MONROE — The Monroe Avalanche Squirts and Bantam’s saw action during the holiday break.

Squirt A

Squirt A’s hosted Sauk Prairie Dec. 22 and lost 4-1. 

Beau Janecke opened up scoring at the 8:20 in the first period unassisted, leaving the score 1-0 after one. It was the Flyers game after that as they went on to score four unanswered goals (two in the second period, and two in the third period). The Avalanche were shorthanded for much of the game as they found themselves in the penalty box seven times. 

Goalie Blake Folgate recorded 20 saves.

The next day, the Avalanche hit the road for two games — a 10-3 loss to Oregon and a 6-5 win over Middleton.

The Panthers jumped out to a big early lead, leaving the Avalanche down 5-0 after the first period. Oregon added two more goals in the second, then Monroe’s Brady Stuart found the back of the net at the 6:38 mark with an assist from Owen Hicks. Stuart scored again at the 4:24 mark unassisted, but Oregon still led 10-2 going into the third period.

Parker Allen managed the only goal in the third off a pass from Hicks. Net minder Brogan Holscher made 22 saves for the Avalanche.

Game 2 sent the Squirts to Middleton for an early evening face off. The Wings scored about a minute and a half into the game, but Brady Stuart answered right back with an assist from Barrett Brandli. Brady Jones would then take the puck all the way to the net unassisted with 1:44 left in the period, ending it with an Avalanche lead of 2-1. 

In the second, Beau Janecke picked up the puck out of the defensive zone and score unassisted. Middleton took over from there and scored four unanswered goals to take a 5-3 lead. 

With only a minute and a half remaining the second period, Janecke scored again unassisted, closing the gap to 5-4.  

The third period was a back and forth possession game. Four minutes into the third period Brandli scored off an assist from Stuart, tying the game at 5-5 with 8:18 to go in the game. For six minutes the teams battled it out in both zones. Then at the 2:15 mark, Janecke scooped up the puck in the defensive zone and went coast to coast for the winning goal while earning a hat trick. 

The Avalanche were able to hold on for the remaining two minutes, winning 6-5. Goalie Blake Folgate racked up 25 saves for the Avalanche.

Bantam B

The Avalanche Bantam B team hosted the Madison Patriots Dec. 22 and won 3-0 despite being without their top two scorers.

Sergio Fletcher stepped up to lead Monroe, recording a hat trick in the third period. Contributing assists were forwards Jace Daughenbaugh and Cameron Newcomer, who helped out and played up from their Pee Wee A team for both Bantam B games this weekend. 

The Avalanche defense would limit the Patriots to 16 shots on goal, all of which were denied by goalie Xander Obert, who recorded his first shutout of the year.

Against Middleton Dec. 23, Monroe lost 5-3. 

The Avalanche tied the game up right before the end of the first period on a Haden Barker redirect of an Aidan Grey shot. Middleton would own the next 20 minutes however, scoring three times. 

The Avalanche fought back on goals from Jayden Downs and Sergio Fletcher, on assists from Barker (2) and Easton Dreyfus, to bring it to within one goal. Middleton would cement the victory with an open-net goal in the last minute.

Goalie Xander Obert had 16 saves in the loss. Next up for the Bantam B’s is Waunakee at 1:30 p.m. Jan. 5 in Monroe, then a rematch against the Patriots Sunday at McFarland on Sunday.