5/20/2022 11:49:00 AM
Duluth remains a thorn in Wildcats' side in close game
| |
|
Duluth 11, Chisago Lakes 10
The Chisago Lakes boys lacrosse team faced a familiar foe when the Duluth Wolfpack came to town Tuesday, May 10.
"We knew from previous meetings that Duluth always has a stellar defense and have presented issues for us in the past. This time was no different,” Head Coach Mark Nordby said.
The Wildcats got on the board first when senior Colten Bergquist buried a shot from eight yards after receiving a pass from junior Max Olson. Chisago Lakes put another one in on a solo dodge by senior Nick Helland and a great pick set by Hunter Haus to shed the trailing defense. "That was a great pick by Hunter to clog up the defender and leave Nick one on one with the goalie,” Nordby said afterward The Wolfpack and Wildcats were trading goals back and forth to put it at 3-3 after the first quarter.
In the second quarter, the Wolfpack started to flex their muscles and rattled off several goals which the Wildcat defense didn't seem to have an answer for.
“Duluth started spreading out their offense and we were being pulled out too far. We made an adjustment to stay tighter to the goal and then Duluth's outside shots started going in. We just weren't playing good team defense at that point,” Nordby explained. Duluth went into halftime with a 9-5 lead.
In the second half, a renewed and energized Wildcat team came out with junior backup goalie Dylan Peterson in net. Peterson came out hot and made some really nice saves. Junior Kadin Melin got things rolling in the second half on a dodge from the right, a fake shot to get the defender to bite, and a redodge to open space to sink a shot past the goalie. “We needed that energy to get us back in the game,” Nordby said. The Wildcats kept chipping away at Duluth's lead to make it 10-10 with two minutes to go.
They thought they had taken the lead on a waved off goal for a crease violation. “The refs had a long discussion,” Nordby said. “We were pleading our case but the goal was not counted. It happens.”
Unfortunately, the Wolfpack went up 11-10 with 1:30 to go and after a timeout. But, the ‘Cats had a chance for a final push but a shot was off the mark and failed to go in. “In the last three games with Duluth, we've lost by one point each time,” Nordby noted. “I liked that we came back in the second half and figured out what we needed to do. I hope we see them again in section play.”
Chisago Lakes 14, Becker 2
The Wildcats had no problem with Becker at home last Thursday night. CL was up 6-1 at half and the ‘Cats came out and kept scoring nearly at will and at times, slowed the scoring down. CL finished with 14 points with a hat trick coming from Haus. “We are a pretty balanced team for scoring and assists,” Nordby said. “That's going to help us as we take on tougher teams."
|
|
|
