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Cambridge-Isanti 6, Chisago Lakes 5 (OT)

Despite a hat trick by the Wildcats’ Scott Liebsch, the Cambridge-Isanti Bluejackets, riding one good line and a hot goalie, surprised the Chisago Lakes Wildcats, beating them 6-5 in overtime Tuesday, December 6 at Isanti.

The Wildcats opened the scoring at 13:51 of the first period. Luke Angrimson’s hard shot missed the net. Lance Baumgard picked up the loose puck and passed it to Scott Liebsch out front. Liebsch, falling down, shot the puck past the Bluejacket goalie to give the Wildcats a 1-0 lead. But the Wildcats were down 2-1 just 30 seconds later. A couple of breakdowns by the Wildcats led to two Bluejacket goals just 11 seconds apart. Liebsch scored again with just over a minute left in the period, tying the game at 2-2 going into the first intermission.

The Wildcats took the game’s first of 14 penalties (seven for each team) just 31 seconds into the second period, and the Bluejackets responded with a power-play goal 30 seconds later. The Wildcats’ Jimmy Bergren, assisted by Bob LeVasseur, came back with a shorthanded goal at the 5:27 mark to tie the score again. And the Wildcats went ahead on another power play two minutes later. C. J. Hoffman charged a rebound and fired through the goalie’s five-hole, trickling into the net to give the Wildcats a 4-3 lead.

But the Bluejackets added another power-play goal at the 13 minute mark, and the teams went into the locker room tied 4-4 for the second intermission.

The Bluejackets came out flying after the break and were rewarded with a goal just 14 seconds into the third period. But Liebsch tied it up just four minutes later with his third goal of the game, and the unassisted tally tied the game up once again. Neither team scored the rest of the period, though the Wildcats had a two-man advantage late in the period and could not take advantage of it.

The Bluejackets, though, took advantage of their two-man advantage in overtime, scoring at the 1:43 mark to make the final score Cambridge-Isanti 6, Chisago Lakes 5.

“They had a good power play’” said Wildcat head coach Corey McKinnon, “and we didn’t make all the adjustments we needed. They had a hot goalie, too. He was so good that our goalie coach, Tim Lideen was impressed – and he’s a hard guy to impress. Also, we had a few defensive breakdowns, attributable to all six guys who were on the ice. But we learned from this game and were able to make some adjustments, especially on our power play defense, which helped us against Denfeld.”

Duluth Denfeld 3, Chisago Lakes 2

The Wildcats played a much better game at home Thursday, December 8, but still lost to the 15th-ranked Duluth Denfeld Hunters 3-2.

The Hunters scored the only goal of the first period. The Wildcats tied it up on a power play goal at the 14:10 mark of the second period. Zack Stimson, who picked up a pass from Lance Baumgard in the Wildcat zone, weaved his way all the way down the left side of the ice and fed Luke Angrimson in the bottom of the right circle. Angrimson ripped a shot over the goalie’s shoulder and under the crossbar to tie the game at one goal apiece. But the Hunters got the lead back with a power play goal of their own just a minute later and led 2-1 going into the third period.

The Hunters’ third goal came on a freak play. Wildcat goalie Tom Fitzer raced out to try to beat a streaking Hunter forward to a loose puck. Fitzer got to the puck first, about 25 feet from the net, and tried to fire it out of the way, but it ricocheted off the Hunter player’s shin pad past Fitzer and into the net.

The Wildcats really turned up the pressure for the last half of the third period. Their tenacity was rewarded at the 11:17 mark. Angrimson and Scott Liebsch came into the zone 2-on-1. Angrimson, coming down the right side, put a perfect pass onto Liebsch’s stick at the left side of the goal, and Liebsch slammed the puck home from point blank range to pull the Wildcats within one. Despite continued pressure the rest of the game, the Wildcats could not manage another goal, making the final score Duluth Denfeld 3, Chisago Lakes 2.

McKinnon was much more pleased with his team’s performance against Denfeld than against Cambridge. “The last eight minutes of this game, something clicked,” he said. “That may have been the turning point for our season. There was a whole different feeling on the bench, and we did everything we could but score the tying goal. Luke Angrimson played a really good game and had six or seven shots on goal. Lance Baumgard hasn’t been productive on the score sheet yet, but has really stepped up as a good vocal leader. And Zack Stimson played almost the entire third period, and seemed to get stronger as the game went on. Our whole team gave it their all in the third period. We had a lot more fun on Thursday than we did on Tuesday.”

The Wildcats (1-3-0 overall, 0-0-0 conference) were scheduled to play their first conference game against the St. Francis Fighting Saints Tuesday, December 13 at the arena in East Bethel. On Saturday, December 17 they’ll head up the road to Pine City to face the Dragons at 5:00 p.m.

December 6, 2005

1 2 3 OT F

Chisago Lakes 2 2 1 0 5

Cambridge-Isanti 2 2 1 1 6

First Period

1) CL Liebsch (Baumgard, Angrimson) 13:51; 1) CI Akers (Hiatt) 14:11; 2) CI Chumley (Akers, Sanz) 14:22; 2) CL Liebsch (Hoffman, Baumgard) 15:53

Second Period

3) CI Akers (J. Johnson) (pp) 1:02; 3) CL J. Bergren (LeVasseur) 5:27 (sh); 4) CL Hoffman (Liebsch, Angrimson) (pp) 7:41; 4) CI McCann (Akers, Sanz) (pp) 13:04

Third Period

5) Chumley (Sanz, Akers) 0:14; 5) CL Liebsch (Unassisted) (pp) 4:06

Overtime

6) CI Akers (McCann) 1:43 (pp)

Saves: CL Fitzer 22, CI Goldsmith 38

December 8, 2005

1 2 3 F

Duluth Denfeld 1 1 1 3

Chisago Lakes 0 1 1 2

First Period

1) DD J. Johnson (B. Johnson) 11:29

Second Period

1) CL Angrimson (Stimson, Baumgard) (pp) 14:10; 2) DD B. Johnson (Stafne, J. Johnson) (pp) 15:14

Third Period

3) DD Stafne (unassisted) 6:03; 2) CL Liebsch (Angrimson) 11:17

Saves: CL Fitzer 20, DD Melby 28

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