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Section 7AA final-

Cloquet/Esko/Carlton 2

Chisago Lakes 1

The scouting report on Cloquet/Esko/Carlton revolved around one thing…..shots. Put as many shots on Division One goalie Johanna Ellison as you can and hope some of them get through. The Boston College-bound netminder is that good. The good news for head coach Al Magnuson is that the Wildcats accomplished that goal, out-shooting the Lumberjacks 39-18 in the game, including 19-1 in the first period. The bad news for Chisago was that it wasn’t enough. Ellison was once again solid last Thursday in the section 7AA final in Lindstrom, stopping 38 of 39 shots, while her teammates capitalized on two huge rebounds, scoring just enough to grab a 2-1 win. More importantly, the win advanced Cloquet to this week’s girls state hockey tournament.

To say that the ‘Cats dominated in the first period would be an understatement. The Wildcats greeted the home crowd with arguably their best period of the season by rifling 19 shots towards the Lumberjack net. Meanwhile, Jackie Weiden became a spectator as the Chisago Lakes goalie only saw one shot. Everything was clicking for the Wildcats except one thing….none of their 19 shots were able to beat Ellison.

“Keep shooting,” smiled Magnuson, Chisago Lakes head girls hockey coach. “The girls shot and shot. We really couldn’t say anything to the girls that was negative because they were playing so well. The only thing we didn’t do was hit the corners when she (Ellison) gave them to us. Other than that, they were playing really well.”

Although the second period was closer, the Wildcats still held the advantage in terms of play. However, the scoreboard did not agree. Early in the period, the Lumberjacks put one of their 14-second period shots on net. Forward Whitney Anderson then swooped in for the rebound, stuffing the puck in the open net, making the score 1-0. It was the only goal of the period. Despite peppering Ellison with 12 shots, the senior sensation finished the period with a total of 31 saves on 31 shots.

With one period left, both teams left it all on the ice. The Lumberjacks were put back on their heels immediately in the third by the ‘Cats. Still, the score remained 1-0 until another rebound was pounced on by Anderson, producing another goal. Quickly, with just 10 minutes left, the deficit for Magnuson and his troops was two.

“We adjusted our line-up a little bit. I think we only had our third line out there for a 30-40 second shift once, just to give our first and second lines a rest,” remarked Magnuson. “But other than that, we had our best line-up out there and we gave it a shot.”

For the next several minutes after taking a 2-0 lead, the Lumberjacks dropped three players back to protect their defensive zone, and sometimes four. In short, it was a tough nut to crack but the Wildcats eventually did crack it. With less than three minutes left in the period, Cassi Lukas picked up a loose puck in front of the Cloquet net and buried it, pulling Chisago within one with time winding down. The ‘Cats were back in the game.

However, after timeouts by both squads, the last few minutes were controlled by Cloquet; especially over the last minute when the Wildcats were able to pull their goalie for the extra attacker. Unfortunately for the ‘Cats, they were barely able to get the puck in the Lumberjack zone much less get a chance to score.

“We were actually going to take our timeout when they did,” commented Magnuson. “They just bottled us up in our zone and we couldn’t get anything going. We couldn’t get the puck in their zone so we could’nt pull our goalie until late and by that time it was too late.”

As the seconds ticked away, Cloquet started to think ahead to state while the Wildcats began to reflect on their season. The loss dropped Chisago’s overall mark to 18-8-1 on the year.

“We were obviously disappointed but we told the girls that they had nothing to be ashamed of,” remembered Magnuson. “They needed to walk out of that locker room with their heads held high. I think they all knew that they played a hell of a game against a hell of a team. Nothing against Cloquet’s team but their goalie beat us.”

Among the last players to leave the rink for Chisago were their seniors. In all, five Wildcats played their last game of their high school careers (Amanda Rammer, Nicole Grossmann, Lexi Medellin, Cassi Lukas, Megan Fors). The loss of Grossmann will hurt the most.

“You really feel bad for the seniors,” said Magnuson. “I mean Nicole finished with 40 goals this season which was more than a third of our goals scored this season. We’re going to miss her tremendously. And the rest of the seniors. As a group, they probably accounted close to 65 of our 95 goals this season so it’s going to be tough to replace those players.”

On the bright side, 15 players will be back, hoping to make another run at the state tournament in 2006.

Cloquet-Esko-Carlton 2

Chisago Lakes 1

1 2 3 F

Chisago Lakes 0 0 1 1

C-E-C 0 1 1 2

Scoring:

First Period-

No scoring.

Second Period-

1) CEC- #8 (#3) 1:36.

Third Period-

2) CEC- #8 (#19) 7:47; 3) CL- Lukas (unassisted) 14:03.

Saves-

Weiden 16

Ellison 38

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