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Chisago Lakes 2

Hill-Murray 1

Playing their sixth game in nine days, the Chisago Lakes Wildcats boys’ soccer team defeated Section 3A opponent Hill-Murray 2-1 at Moody Field Friday, October 8.

The teams played evenly throughout most of the first half. The Wildcats’ best two chances of the half came one right after the other. With just over 12 minutes left, sophomore forward Chris Golv raced down the left sideline. From about 30 yards out, he lifted a pass out in front of the net, but a header by junior forward Blaine Maher sailed just wide.

Then, only a minute later, Pioneer goalie Kevin Cassidy made a sprawling save on a point blank shot by Maher.

Meanwhile, the Pioneers’ best chance came with just six minutes left in the half as they worked the ball for a hard shot from the top of the penalty area. That’s when Wildcat sophomore goalie Joe Knafla made a diving save.

It looked like the teams would go into halftime knotted at zero, but Knafla and Golv had other ideas. With just over 30 seconds left in the half, Knafla picked up a loose ball in the penalty box and lofted a high punt near midfield. Golv trapped the ball, turned and popped it over the head of the closest Pioneer player. Golv then outraced the player to the ball and sprinted down the left sideline past the last Pioneer defender. His low shot from about 10 yards out beat goalie Cassidy and rolled just inside the right post with 13 seconds left in the half to give the Wildcats a 1-0 lead and a lot of momentum going into the break.

They were far from finished.

The Wildcats continue to play inspired soccer in the second half, and with just over 18 minutes left, the ‘Cats were once again rewarded. With one goal already under his belt, Golv pushed a pass ahead to senior Karl Jung in the left corner. Jung knocked the ball over to senior Adam Sill at the top of the penalty area. With two defenders on him, Sill tapped the ball to his right to a wide open Maher. Maher rifled a one-timer past a sprawling Cassidy to give the Wildcats what looked like an insurmountable 2-0 lead.

But the Pioneers weren’t done just yet. With 1:27 left in the game, the Pioneers took a free kick from two feet outside the top of the penalty area. Knafla leaped and got his fingertips on the ball. However, the ball hit the crossbar and bounced off Knafla’s back into the net to bring the Pioneers within one, spoiling Knafla’s bid for his fifth shutout of the season. The Pioneers continued to press hard over the last minute of the game, but the Wildcats proved equal to the task and emerged with a 2-1 victory.

“This was an important victory over a tough section opponent for us,” said Mark Leigh, Chisago Lakes head boys soccer coach. “We should be seeded no lower than sixth, and maybe as high as fifth when the section playoff seedings come out on Sunday.”

“The players all played well today,” added assistant coach Andy Brink. “The boys realized they had to work harder and really rose to the occasion against Hill-Murray.”

The win left the Wildcats with one game left on the schedule before sections.

Cambridge-Isanti 3

Chisago Lakes 0

With an important section game out of the way, head coach Mark Leigh wanted to get his reserves some playing time, rest some starters, and win the last regular season game. The Wildcats accomplished two of those three goals anyway, losing to the AA Cambridge-Isanti Bluejackets 3-0 at Cambridge-Isanti High School last Saturday.

The Bluejackets got on the board early. With just over two minutes gone in the game, the Bluejackets took advantage of a defensive breakdown by the Wildcats for a quick 1-0 lead.

The Wildcats defense stiffened and the teams played evenly for the rest of the half. Chisago made wholesale substitutions at the midpoint of the first half and the reserves did a great job holding off the Bluejackets.

However, the Bluejackets put the game away with two goals midway through the second half as Leigh freely substituted throughout the second half, as well.

In the end, Leigh was disappointed with the loss, but also philosophical about it.

“This was our seventh game in ten days,” said Leigh. “We rested some of our starters today. I’m proud of the way the reserves played and helped to keep the game close most of the way. This matchup against a double-A opponent wasn’t important to our section seedings. We came out of the game with no significant injuries, so everyone should be ready to go for the section playoffs.”

Speaking of those section playoffs, Sunday’s Section 3A seeding meeting took place at Mahtomedi High School. The Wildcats were awarded the fifth seed in the section and will open with a home game against the Co-Op 911 Charter Stars (a cooperative team between the Agricultural and Food Sciences Academy and the Minnesota Business Academy) at 4 p.m. Thursday at Moody Field.

If the ‘Cats win, they will face the St. Thomas Academy Cadets at St. Thomas on Saturday, October 16 at 7 p.m. in the section quarterfinals. The Cadets are the number four seed in section 3A.

The section semifinals and finals are scheduled for Tuesday, October 19 and Thursday, October 21, respectively.

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