MONROE — Regular season nonconference games can be a crapshoot in any sport. Monroe rolled a snake eyes against Sauk Prairie Jan. 8, losing 7-0 on home ice.

“Sauk is a pretty good team,” Monroe coach Barry Einbeck said. “Unfortunately, we could not match their intensity at the level we needed to in order to compete. Considering we played them up there in a pretty good game and lost 3-0, I thought we were going to do that tonight but the kids decided not to play.”

The Cheesemakers co-op started backup goalie Jayden Johnson in an effort to give the Argyle sophomore some playing time, but blame for the litany of goals can hardly be put on the netminder.

“I was really happy with Jayden and how he played. You can’t fault Jayden for those goals,” Einbeck said. “We just have to play better in front of him.”

Monroe’s defense struggled to slow down the Eagles from the start. Just 51 seconds into the game Riley Jelinek dumped a shot passed Johnson.

“It was a deflating moment for us. Before the game I talked to the kids about coming out strong and setting the tempo of the game. We gave up that first goal and it was kind of like, ‘oh boy, here we go.’ That’s exactly what happened,” Einbeck said.

Sauk Prairie (8-5, 3-3 Badger North) led 3-0 after the first period, but the struggles for Monroe were just starting.

“We have to handle the puck better,” Einbeck said. “We have to move our feet, and we have to want to compete, and we have to win our one-on-one battles.”

In the second period, Monroe had a cumulative of one minute of possession in its offensive zone. The Eagles controlled the puck throughout, but Johnson held his ground as best he could and allowed a singular goal just 3:04 into the frame.

“I was more focused I’d say. I had to keep moving. Everything could have been a goal, so I had to keep going,” Johnson said, adding that getting an opportunity to play took some time to adjust. “Getting back into varsity (action), it’s a lot faster paced. It’s a lot better hockey. After the first goal or two my nerves started to settle and I thought I did a lot better.”

Monroe didn’t get the puck into the offensive zone until six minutes and 14 seconds had passed in the period — even then icing was called. Monroe’s lone opportunity in the period came in the final minute after killing a power play — Ryan Molitor rushed Eagles goalie Levi Carr on a breakaway and but missed. Sauk Prairie’s Camden Desroches was whistled for a holding penalty, but even with a power play in hand, the Cheesemakers were unable to put any real pressure on Carr.

“We talk about competing every day in practice, we talk about competing every game and winning your one-on-one battles. And handling the puck — making good passes, making the right pass, hold the puck when you need to. Just guys doing their job, and we had none of that tonight. You can’t win hockey games by doing that,” Einbeck said.

Sauk Prairie’s three goals in the third came in the final eight minutes, with the last goal ricocheting off a defender’s facemask and going top shelf glove-side past Johnson with just 27 seconds left on the clock.

The Cheesemakers were outshot 53-10 in the game, and 21-2 in the second period. Despite the shots — and goals — against him, Johnson said he’s used his time backing up Heath Bear to his advantage, watching the game unfold from the bench and learning the traits of the position.

“When you’re on the bench you see a lot more of the small mistakes. It’s a lot easier to pick things out and put it into your game,” Johnson said.

Monroe (5-9, 1-5 Badger South) is on a three-game skid after nearly reaching .500 and returns to action Jan. 15 at Oregon (7-4, 5-1).

“We just need to keep working and maybe the next game will be better,” Einbeck said.