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Chisago Lakes 8

Pine City 0

Senior Jimmy Lorr scored two of Chisago Lakes’ four first-period goals, and the Wildcats went on to extinguish the Pine City Dragons 8-0 last Tuesday at home.

The Wildcats struck early. Just over two minutes into the game, Jake Miles passed the puck to Lorr at the top of the left circle. Lorr shot quickly, and the puck flew by a surprised Dragon goalie. Later in the period, Lance Baumgard curled out of the right corner and put one away from the middle of the slot.

On Lorr’s second goal, Nick Peterson skated in from the right point, skated behind the net and passed it to Lorr in the low slot. Lorr one-timed it in to put the Wildcats up by three.

“Jimmy Lorr played a good overall game,” said Corey McKinnon, Chisago Lakes head boys hockey coach “He scored two first period goals and you could tell he was hungry for the hat trick. But he’s such a team-oriented kid – he got just as excited when other players scored.”

Jimmy Bergren rounded out the scoring in the first period, firing a shot from the left edge of the left circle into the upper left corner of the net with just under two minutes remaining to make the score Wildcats 4, Dragons 0.

Scott Liebsch scored on a power play midway through the second period to make the score 5-0. It looked like that would be the score going into the second intermission, but C. J. Hoffman had other ideas. At the red line, Hoffman knocked the puck away from a Dragon player. He chased the puck toward the Dragon net. The race was on as the Dragon goalie rushed toward the puck. Just as the goalie tried to dive on the puck, Hoffman stretched out with one arm and popped the puck over the sprawling goalie to make the score 6-0.

Zack Stimson’s electrifying end-to-end rush accounted for the Wildcats’ first score in the third period. And an opportunistic Baumgard put the finishing touch on this important conference matchup. The Dragon goalie stopped Baumgard’s initial shot and was attempting to freeze the puck. A hard-charging Baumgard poked at the loose puck and it squirted through the goalie’s five-hole into the net to make the final score Wildcats 8, Dragons 0.

“Our kids played hard for all 51 minutes and showed a level of play consistent with the Princeton game,” commented McKinnon. “We couldn’t afford an off-game because my counterpart, Dragon coach Dan Voce, always gets his kids to work hard and do things the right way. It wouldn’t have made sense to put everything into Princeton and then let down against Pine City. We created a lot of opportunities for ourselves and bottled up the Dragons down low. Also, we spread out the scoring. Six different players scored goals.”

The win moved the Wildcats overall record to 13-8 and their conference mark to 7-2.

Cloquet-Esko-Carlton 6

Chisago Lakes 4

Despite being outshot 62-18 for the game, the Chisago Lakes Wildcats fought their way back into contention several times before finally succumbing to the Cloquet-Esko-Carlton Lumberjacks 6-4 last Saturday.

Each time the Lumberjacks looked ready to deliver the knockout punch to put the game out of reach, the Wildcats scored to keep themselves from going down for the count in their final home game of the year.

The Lumberjacks got on the board on a power play goal just two minutes into the game. The Wildcats tied it up at the 11:22 mark. Josh Angrimson sent a rinkwide pass from his own blue line into the left side of the Lumberjack zone. Lance Baumgard caught up with the puck and shot quickly from 15 feet out, beating the goalie on the left side to tie the game at one goal apiece.

But just a minute later, the Lumberjacks answered with a barrage of three goals in a one-minute time span that appeared to put the Wildcats on the ropes. The Wildcats managed to hold the Lumberjacks off the scoreboard the rest of the period, but things didn’t look too bright going into the intermission down 4-1.

The Wildcats tightened things up a little bit in the second period. At the 9:24 mark, Bob LeVasseur picked up a loose puck in the left corner, skated unchallenged to the front of the net and fired a shot inside the left post to pull the Wildcats within two. Wildcat goalie Tom Fitzer stopped all 21 shots he faced in the second period, and the Wildcats went into the second intermission with a sense of optimism.

But Cloquet scored to deliver what could have been a crushing blow at 5:47 of the third period to go up 5-2. The Wildcats, however, refused to lie down. After the ensuing face-off, Lance Baumgard passed the puck to Jimmy Bergren. Bergren raced down the right edge of the slot and buried a beautiful shot just inside the left post just seven seconds after the Lumberjack goal to once again pull the Wildcats within two.

“Jimmy Bergren had a good game,” remarked McKinnon.. “He went hard after a lot of loose pucks. And he got a big goal for us. He kept his feet moving the whole way in, found a nice opening and took a great shot.”

Cloquet scored again two minutes later and, once more, the Wildcats answered. At the ten-minute mark, Josh Angrimson skated into the Lumberjack zone through the right circle, with Scott Liebsch trailing on the left. Angrimson made a nice move and ripped a shot that rebounded big toward the left circle. Liebsch swooped in and hammered the puck into the open left side of the net to once again pull the Wildcats within two. But that’s all the Wildcats could muster as the Lumberjack defense stiffened and held on for a 6-4 victory.

“It was certainly an interesting day,” stated McKinnon. “Because of a scheduling mix-up, we had to scramble to find referees, so I didn’t get the normal amount of preparation time with the players. I was impressed by the way the kids handled adversity and how hard they played against a highly ranked AA opponent. On the scoreboard, we won the second period and played them even in the third. After the game, the guys didn’t feel like they’d lost it.”

Rated number 13 in the state in class AA accoring to Let’s Play Hockey Magazine, the Lumberjacks provided McKinnon and the Wildcats with a great opportunity with sections right around the corner. After all, several of their section opponents are also rated amongst the best teams in the state. It was a good test.

“We needed a game against a tough opponent going into the section playoffs against the likes of Breck, Blake and Benilde,” declared McKinnon. “Cloquet exposed us a little defensively – we have to get better at covering in the corner and in front of the net and remember that defense is a six-man job, not just two or three, especially against a good team.”

Saturday’s game was also senior night for Chisago, honoring four seniors. Playing in their home game was forward Josh Angrimson, forward/defenseman Jake Miles, forward Jimmy Lorr and goalie Ben Thorson. It was also Parents’ Night. “I appreciate all the support the parents have given me throughout the year. And I’d like to thank them for their sacrifices on behalf of their sons over the course of their sons’ hockey careers. Both their support and sacrifices contributed to our success this season.”

The Wildcats fell to 13-9 overall with the loss with three games left on the schedule, including two league games.

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