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Chisago Lakes 4, Duluth East 3

The Wildcat boys' B-1 Bantam hockey team became the first Chisago Lakes boys youth hockey team to ever make it to the state tournament. They eked out a 4-3 victory over the Duluth East Greyhounds at the Minnesota Hockey East Regional Saturday, March 3 at the St. Croix Recreation Center in Stillwater.

The fifth-ranked Wildcats (33-4-2) opened the scoring with four minutes to go in the first period. Andrew Habel fired a pass from behind the right side of the net to Cory Lushanko. Lushanko one-timed it to give the Wildcats a first-period lead.

The Wildcats increased their lead to 3-0 on two second-period goals by Brett Lizotte. At the five minute mark, Lizotte took a pass in the high slot, skated to the lower part of the left circle and fired a shot into the top left corner to put the Wildcats up by two. Lizotte appeared to score again two minutes later, but the referees disallowed the goal because of a Wildcat player in the crease. Lizotte kept at it. With four minutes left in the second period, he stole the puck and cut in all alone from the right side, carried the puck across the crease and ripped another top shelf goal to give the Wildcats a comfortable three-goal lead.

The comfort didn't last long as Duluth took advantage of the game's first penalty by scoring a power play goal with 1:40 remaining in the second period. They added another goal with just 26 seconds left to tighten the score to 3-2 going into the third period.

The Wildcats came out flying in the third period and put pressure on Duluth right away. Their reward came just 22 seconds into the period. Ory Burggraff, standing along the goal line just a few feet to the right of the Duluth net, attempted to pass the puck to a teammate waiting near the right post. But, the puck hit the goalie's skate and caromed into the net to give the Wildcats a two-goal lead.

Duluth won the ensuing face-off and carried the puck into the Wildcat zone three-on-two. They executed it perfectly, scoring just eight seconds after Burggraff's goal to cut the Wildcat lead back down to one. As time ticked away, both teams had chances to score. Duluth finally pulled their goalie with a minute left, but the Wildcats held off the Greyhounds.

"We all realized what was at stake," said Wildcat head coach Mike Lizotte. "Win and we go to the state tournament, lose and we get out the baseball bats. Not much needs to be said in the locker room before a game like this. We had prepared the kids for situations like this by scrimmaging four of the top five ranked teams in the state throughout the year. We realized that as the level of competition increases, the speed of the game also increases."

Chisago Lakes 3, Stillwater 2

Kyle Hagglund's rebound goal with five minutes remaining in the game gave the Wildcats a 3-2 victory over Stillwater in the opening round of the East Regional Friday morning, March 2.

After a back and forth first period of play, Cole DuBose scored as the buzzer sounded to end the first period giving the Wildcats a 1-0 lead. The Wildcats played a more physical style of hockey in the second period and bottled Stillwater up in their own zone.

Riley Doriott scored five minutes into the period for a 2-0 lead. Stillwater quickly cut the Wildcat lead to 2-1. "Momentum was definitely starting to turn toward Stillwater as we ended the period," said Lizotte. "The break came at a very good time for our team."

The third period started with a quick Stillwater goal to tie the game at 2-2. Wildcat goaltender Kyle Buchanan came up with three or four huge saves to keep the game tied. With five minutes remaining in the game, Kyle Hagglund knocked in a rebound for the game winner. Stillwater, ranked third in the state, pulled their goalie in the final minute, but failed to get a shot on goal as the Wildcats came away with a 3-2 victory.

Lizotte said, "After taking the lead, the kids really focused on defensive play. We forced everything to the perimeter and gave up nothing in the slot. A big key to victory was our defensive coverage. Our defense moved the puck quickly and our forwards were able to help out down low."

Centennial 3, Chisago Lakes 2

With the game tied at 1-1 late in the third period, the Wildcats came out on the short end of a late scoring surge by both teams. The Wildcats lost 3-2 to Centennial Red Friday evening, March 2.

Riley Doriott opened the scoring with a nice backhand, giving CL a 1-0 lead at the end of one. Centennial, ranked seventh in the state, scored only one goal in the second period despite outshooting the Wildcats 11-2 and hitting two pipes. "The second period was not pretty," said Lizotte. We were out forechecked, out backchecked, out everythinged. If it wasn't for Kyle Buchanan, our goalie, this game might have been out of reach entering the final period."

Centennial also controlled the third period, but Buchanan helped to keep the Wildcats in it. Centennial took the lead with four minutes remaining in the game as the rollercoaster ride began. Andrew Habel beat two Centennial players and fired a laser to tie the game with 1:50 remaining. Centennial created a turnover at the blue line and scored with 48 seconds left for the 3-2 victory.

Lizotte said "That was a frustrating goal to watch. We had two opportunities to clear the puck and were unsuccessful on both attempts."

"This was a back-and-forth game in which goaltender Kyle Buchanan turned in an outstanding effort," said Lizotte, "He held us in there and gave us a chance to win, but we just gave up too many odd man rushes. This was the second game of the day for us and our energy level was low, but I thought the kids battled hard for the entire game, especially in the third period."

CL 6, Hermantown 2

The Hermantown Hawks had a reputation as a hard-hitting team. The Wildcats gave them a taste of their own medicine and completely dominated the first period before cruising to a 6-2 victory over the Hawks Saturday, March 3. The win knocked Hermantown out of the playoffs and put the Wildcats into a game against Duluth East to see who would go to the state tournament.

Andrew Habel scored two minutes into the game and Cory Lushanko added two more goals to give the Wildcats a 3-0 lead after one. The Wildcats outshot Hermantown 15-2 for the period. "Our forecheck was amazing and our defenseman owned every inch of the neutral ice zone," said Lizotte. Hermantown scored an early goal in the second period, but Ory Burggraff came right back on the next shift and extended the lead to 4-1. Third period goals by Andrew Habel and Riley Doriott finished the Hawks.

Goalie Kyle Buchanan came up with a highlight film save in the second period. After stopping the initial shot, Buchanan lay in the crease. A Hermantown player ripped a rebound high into the seemingly open net, but Buchanan stuck his glove up and snatched the puck out of the air. The save fired up the Wildcats and demoralized the Hawks.

"We knew that this was a must win game," said Lizotte, "and did the team ever rise to the occasion. It was nice to see our scoring leaders find ways to get the puck in the net. It's amazing how quickly you can go from the lows of a loss to the highs of a win in a matter of hours. I was very proud of our team - we have a very short bench and playing three games in 28 hours was a real concern. We knew that a win today by two or more goals would put us in the championship game. Everything we had practiced throughout the year seemed to come together all at once."

The coach added, "The key to the weekend was a total team effort. Each game someone different seems to provide the scoring for us, and Kyle Buchanan in goal always gives our team a chance to win. We have a real 'lunch-box' style approach to every game - we want the kids to play hard and to play smart every time they step on the ice. Sean Vainovskis gave us a solid, smart effort all weekend. Our defenseman Tyler Henderson, Cole DuBose, DJ Edstrom, and Jeffrey Sargeant really played well. They controlled the neutral ice area, they allowed clear paths for our goaltender to see the puck and they moved the puck quickly.

"I met with the captains before we started play this weekend and we set two goals to accomplish: to play with intensity for all three periods of every game and to enter each game with a purpose. We wanted the team to enjoy the moment of regional play, but not be satisfied with just making it to regions," Lizotte concluded.

The Wildcats will play Rochester in the first game of the State Tournament Friday, March 16, at noon at the Plymouth Ice Center.

Thanks to Mike Lizotte for his contributions to this story.

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