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CL 6, Robbinsdale Cooper 5

The Chisago Lakes boys’ hockey team needed Jimmy Bergren’s hat trick to squeak by the Robbinsdale Cooper Hawks 6-5 in a penalty-filled game at Chisago Lakes Arena Thursday, Jan. 5.

The Wildcats began an early scoring flurry just 1:44 into the first period as Luke Angrimson redirected Scott Liebsch’s shot from the point to put the Wildcats up 1-0. The Hawks scored two goals in the next two minutes, including one on the power play, to go up by a goal. Just over a minute later, Jimmy Bergren scored his first goal of the game when he redirected Zack Stimson’s shot from the point to tie the score 2-2.

Bergren scored his second goal early in the second period, again assisted by Stimson, out of a scrum in front of the Hawk net, to put the Wildcats up by one. But the Hawks scored the next two goals, again including a power play goal, to take the lead. Bergren tied it up on a power play with just over a minute to go in the period. Terry Bergren, Jimmy’s brother, took a shot from the right. Jimmy Bergren pounced on the rebound and fired it past the Hawk goalie to make the score 4-4. Lance Baumgard scored the go-ahead goal on a power play just 48 seconds into the third period, and the Wildcats hung on for a 5-4 victory.

“Cooper’s not a bad hockey team,” said Wildcat head coach Corey McKinnon. “They moved their feet and moved the puck better than we anticipated. Also, the game had no flow because of the 22 penalties called by the referees; it gave them more of an advantage than it did us. I was glad we scored right away in the third period and took care of business. Jimmy’s hat trick and a total team effort helped us to a scrappy victory. I’m glad this one’s over so we can move on.”

St. Louis Pk. 6, Chisago Lakes 4

The Wildcats fell behind 4-1 after the first period, but rallied to pull within one goal two different times before falling to the second-ranked St. Louis Park Orioles 6-4 at home Saturday, Jan. 7. The Wildcats played without senior forward Lance Baumgard, who was out with an illness and may miss several games.

The Orioles got on the board just a minute into the first period. Just a few minutes later, Wildcat forward Forrest Lamson, called up from the JV to replace Baumgard, scored his first varsity goal, assisted by Ross Jones and Jeremy Patterson, to tie the game at 1-1. But the Orioles scored three more goals in the period; including a power play goal with 33 seconds left, to take a 4-1 lead after one.

The Wildcats came out hard and fast in the second period. Scott Liebsch scored on a spin-o-rama from the right circle, assisted by Aaron Slagle, to pull the Wildcats within two. And the Wildcats cut the lead to one midway through the period. Some nice passing on a power play got the puck back to Zack Stimson at the left point. Stimson smoked a slapshot into the upper left corner of the net. To give pull the Wildcats within one. But the Orioles got one back on a 5-on-3 power play just two minutes before the end of the second period to increase their lead to two.

The Wildcats again got within a goal just over four minutes into the third period as Aaron Slagle scored, assisted by Jake Parenteau. But the Orioles answered just over 30 seconds later. The Wildcats played an inspired third period, but couldn’t put any more pucks in the net, so the final score was St. Louis Park 6, Chisago Lakes 4.

“We made some mistakes and got down 4-1 after the first period,” said McKinnon. “A good hockey team like St. Louis Park makes you pay. It was good to see us battle back after that. We know e can play at this level. We outplayed them for most of the rest of the game. We know we belong up there; we just need to take the next step of winning those games. The defense really stepped up as they took away the Orioles passing options. All four of our regular defenseman are highly skilled – they can take anyone off the puck and create turnovers when the puck’s in our end.

“And I can’t say enough about Forrest Lamson. He’s been very patient, having played all JV to this point. He never complained and did whatever it took to make himself better. So he was mentally ready today and played a great game. When he scored, it was because he outmuscled a guy for the puck and put it on net. He had a nice shoulder check later. It’s nice to have a kid who’s willing to do what he’s done. It makes a big difference for the chemistry of our hockey team.”

Coach Mckinnon continued, “Because of Baumgard’s absence, D.J. Haus was moved onto a line with Jimmy Bergren and Luke Angrimson. Aaron Slagle got stronger as the game went on, and Scott Liebsch seemed to be everywhere on the ice for us tonight.”

The Wildcats (6-6-0 overall, 3-1-0 conference) were scheduled to play conference opponent Spring Lake Park at Fogerty Arena Tuesday. They’ll return home for another conference game Saturday at 2 p.m. against highly-ranked Totino Grace.

CL 5, Robbinsdale Cooper 4

1 2 3 F

Robb. Cooper 2 2 0 4

Chisago Lakes 2 2 1 5

Scoring

First Period

1) CL Angrimson (Liebsch, Baumgard) 1:44; 1) RC McGuire (Pierce) 2:50; 2) RC Erickson (Rasmussen, Makozak) 4:00 (pp); 2) CL Ji. Bergren (Stimson) 5:59

Second Period

3) CL Ji. Bergren (Stimson) 3:57; 3) RC Wrobel (Rohe, Frisk) 6:33; 4) RC Abild (Pierce) 11:24 (pp); 4) CL Ji. Bergren (T. Bergren) (pp) 15:35

Third Period

5) CL Baumgard (unassisted) (pp) 0:48

Saves: CL Fitzer 16, RC Venne 32

St. Louis Pk. 6, Chisago Lakes 4

1 2 3 F

St. Louis Park 4 1 1 6

Chisago Lakes 1 2 1 4

Scoring

First Period

1) SL Sackrison (Greenbush, Shandley) 0:58; 1) CL Lamson (Jones, Patterson) 4:34; 2) SL Sackrison (Skolnick) 6:04; 3) SL Sackrison (Greenbush) 14:11; 4) SL Malenius (Greenbush, Sackrison) 16:27

Second Period

2) CL Liebsch (Slagle) 0:37; 3) CL Stimson (LeVasseur) (pp) 6:25; 5) SL Carlson (Pederson, Sackrison) 14:44

Third Period

4) CL Slagle (Parenteau) 4:24 6) SL Greenbush (Sackrison) 5:07

Saves: CL Fitzer 31, SL Swartout 24

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