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St. Louis Park 3, CL 1

In a well-played game September 26, the seventh-ranked Wildcats took an early 1-0 lead, but three straight goals by fifth-ranked St. Louis Park sent the Wildcats to their first home loss of the season.

Christian Swanberg got the Wildcats on the board early in the first half. But St. Louis Park came back with two goals of their own in the first half, and then scored in the first minute of the second half to give themselves a two-goal cushion. The Wildcats likely should have had two penalty kicks in the second half, but both times the referee moved the ball just outside the box for a free kick. The Wildcats put on some good pressure, but a stalwart St. Louis Park defense kept them out of the net, making the final score St. Louis Park 3, Chisago Lakes 1.

“St. Louis Park is a very good team,” said Wildcat head coach Mark Leigh. They had more scoring chances than we did and were able to take advantage of enough of them to win. When they got their third goal early in the second half, it seemed to give them an extra spark. A two-goal deficit against a good team like that is tough to overcome.”

Chisago Lakes 5, Irondale 0

The Wildcats scored more than four goals for only the second time this season as they rolled over Irondale 5-0 Thursday, September 28 at Irondale.

Chris Golv had his third hat trick of the season for the Wildcats, and his partner at forward Christian Swanberg had the other two. Mark Eagan had two assists, and Troy Aadland and Scott Leigh had one assist apiece. Goalkeepers Tommy Fitzer and Zak Vrudny each played a half and combined for the shutout. It was sophomore Vrudny’s first goalkeeper action this season.

CL 3, Mounds Park Academy 1

The Wildcats played just well enough to beat a section opponent Saturday, September 30, dispatching Mounds Park Academy 3-1.

Chris Golv, Mark Eagan and Aaron Bergerson scored for the Wildcats, with Tyler Bouwens and Ross Jones picking up assists. Goalkeeper Zak Vrudny allowed just one goal in his first varsity start.

Our guys are having a really good season,” said Wildcat head coach Mark Leigh. “Senior midfielder Scott Leigh hurt his ankle this week, so we’ll be without him for the last week of the regular season. He should be ready to go by the playoffs.”

Heading into next week’s section playoffs, the Wildcats (12-2-2 overall, 5-2-1 conference) finish out the season with three home games. They were scheduled to host the Monticello Magic Monday, October 2 and conference opponent Columbia Heights Tuesday, October 3. They’ll finish the regular season at home against conference leader Spring Lake Park today, Thursday, October 5 at 5 p.m. at the Chisago Lakes High School football field.

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