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CL 4, St. Croix Lutheran 0

The Wildcats beat section foe St. Croix Lutheran 4-0 Monday, September 18 in West St. Paul.

Chisago Lakes 4, St. Thomas 0

In the section championship game last fall, St. Thomas beat the Wildcats in a penalty kick shootout to advance to the state tournament. The Wildcats got a measure of revenge last Tuesday, September 19 as they dominated the Cadets and won 4-0 at home.

The Wildcats missed two great scoring chances before they got their first goal. In the 14th minute, senior Scott Leigh took a corner kick from the right corner. Senior Chris Golv, positioned at the far post, headed it in to give the Wildcats a 1-0 lead. Just one minute later, Wildcat goalkeeper Tommy Fitzer came out to challenge a Cadet player breaking in with the ball. The player got around Fitzer, but defender Brandyn Johnson raced back toward the net and knocked the ball off the goal line to keep the Cadets off the scoreboard.

The Cadets’ best scoring chance came in the 34th minute. A Cadet forward drilled a high shot from 12 yards. Fitzer leaped high and tipped the ball. It banged off the crossbar and went left. A Cadet player one-timed the rebound toward the net. But Fitzer was already on the move and smothered the rebound to keep the Wildcats up by one.

In the 38th minute, Golv pushed a ball through, chased it down and scored his second goal of the game to give the Wildcats a 2-0 lead at halftime. In the second minute of the second half, senior Christian Swanberg took a pass in the Cadet penalty area and bounced a shot off two defenders into the net. And in the final minute of the game, a loose ball bounced off a St. Thomas defender and into the top of their penalty area. Scotty Leigh chased it down, broke in alone on the goalie and beat him to the left to make the final score Chisago Lakes 4, St. Thomas 0.

“I’m glad we took care of St. Thomas,” said Wildcat head coach Mark Leigh. Maybe they’re not as good as they were last year, but beating them 4-0 is still a good feeling."

CL 2, Benilde-St. Margaret’s 1

The seventh-ranked Wildcats scored two goals in the first ten minutes of the game, then held number six-ranked Benilde-St. Margaret’s to one goal the rest of the way and came away with a 2-1 victory Thursday, September 21 at St. Louis Park.

Benilde scored their only goal on a penalty kick with five minutes left in the first half to make the score 2-1.

“Overall, the guys did a good job,” said Wildcat head coach Mark Leigh. “Everybody’s working hard, playing together and helping each other out. Our boys don’t quit. It was a fun game, but it would have been nice to have another goal; it was pretty tense in the second half

“The real key in this game was our strong defense. We don’t make many mistakes and we don’t allow too many breakaways. In fact, the other teams have to grt by ten field players and Tommy to get the ball in the net. They’ve got to have a perfect play or penalty kick to score. I think we’ve sort of surprised some people. We’ve been beating some good teams.”

The Wildcats have now beaten two teams (Mahtomedi and Benilde-St. Margaret’s) and tied one team (Totino Grace) ranked ahead of them in the coaches’ poll.

The Wildcats were scheduled to host conference opponent St. Louis Park Tuesday, September 26. They go on the road to play Irondale today, Thursday, September 28, at 5 p.m. This Saturday they play at section opponent Mounds Park Academy at 1 p.m., then return home to face Monticello at 7 p.m. Monday, October 2.

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