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Chisago Lakes 4, Rochester 1

Andrew Habel's pure hat trick in the second period led the Wildcats to a 4-1 win over Rochester. The victory opened the state tournament Friday, March 16 at the Plymouth Ice Center.

The Wildcats couldn't handle number-one ranked Eden Prairie on Saturday afternoon, losing 4-1 to get knocked into the third-place game. Missing two players due to an injury and a suspension, the tired Wildcats lost the third-place game to Wayzata 5-2 on Sunday afternoon to finish the state tournament in fourth place.

The Wildcats dominated from the start against Rochester, but trailed 1-0 after the first period. Rochester scored the only goal of the period with a rebound goal at the four minute mark. "We got caught watching the puck instead of playing the body," said Wildcat head coach Mike Lizotte.

Habel and the Wildcats continued to outplay Rochester in the second period and things began to fall their way. Halfway through the period, Habel put in a rebound from a sharp angle to tie the score at 1-1. A few minutes later, Habel stole the puck near the top of the left circle in the Rochester zone, skated straight at the net and fired a quick shot. The puck found the back of the net to put the Wildcats up 2-1.

"That was a very big goal," said Lizotte. "We had outplayed them badly, but just couldn't pull away from them. It was a great individual effort by Andrew. I think he surprised the goalie by shooting instead of deking."

Habel completed his hat trick with 30 seconds left in the period, scoring a power play goal to give the Wildcats a 3-1 lead after two. "That was one of our most dominant periods of hockey this year," said Lizotte. "We outscored Rochester 3-0 and outshot them 18-1. Our forecheck was relentless throughout the period and our defensemen created opportunities for us by jumping into the play."

The Wildcats played a more defensive style in the final stanza. Lizotte commented "We knew that avoiding odd man rushes in the third period would give us a great chance to advance to the state semifinals, and the kids followed the game plan perfectly." Brett Lizotte added an empty net goal with a minute remaining to put an exclamation point on a dominating performance.

The Wildcats' 4-1 victory sent them to face Eden Prairie in the second round.

Eden Prairie 4, CL 1

The Wildcats battled Eden Prairie evenly for most of the first period. But, late in the period, an Eden Prairie shot that looked like it was going to sail well over the crossbar hit something in the air right out front and dropped into the net to give Eden Prairie a 1-0 lead with 36 seconds left in the first period.

Lizotte said "We were very happy with the way our team was playing. We knew physical play would be important to slow down a very quick Eden Prairie team."

The Wildcats played most of the second period shorthanded. With the help of Kyle Buchanan in goal, the Wildcats killed off four penalties in a row, including killing off almost a full two minutes of five-on-three. All this left the Wildcats little time or energy to generate much offense, and the period ended with Eden Prairie clinging to its 1-0 lead.

"Between periods," said Lizotte, "I told the kids that, despite being outplayed, we were one break away from tying this game and one break away from playing for a state championship."

Both teams came out flying in the third period. Eden Prairie struck first with a rebound goal just two minutes into the first period to take a 2-0 lead. The Wildcats came right back with a goal of their own. Ory Burggraff pulled the puck to Brett Lizotte on a face-off in Eden Prairie's left circle. Lizotte returned the puck to Burggraff, who rifled a shot into the upper corner to cut the Eden Prairie lead to 2-1.

The rest of the period was, as Lizotte put it, "good old fashioned racehorse hockey - up and down the ice with very few whistles." Both teams had multiple scoring chances, but both goalies stopped everything in sight. With a minute remaining, Eden Prairie won a face-off in the Wildcats zone and put the puck in the net for the clincher.

Chisago Lakes pulled goalie Buchanan for an extra attacker and Eden Prairie added an empty net goal as time expired to make the final score Eden Prairie 4, Chisago Lakes 1.

"Our coaches and players were very disappointed in the locker room following the game," said Lizotte. "We all knew how close we were to playing for a state championship. But, despite the loss, we were very happy with the play of our team. We gave the number one team in the state a real battle, but just ran out of time. Our small bench comes into play in a game like this. The pace was so fast that our players just ran out of energy."

Wayzata 5, Chisago Lakes 2

Wayzata jumped out to a 3-0 lead over the shorthanded, dejected Wildcats after one period of the third place game. "We talked to the kids between periods," said Lizotte, "and discussed how we got to this point - by playing as a team."

The Wildcats came out flying in the second period. Andrew Habel got the scoring started by chipping in a shot from the slot to cut the Wayzata lead to 3-1. Riley Doriott made a nice move four minutes later and put a backhand past the goalie to make it a 3-2 game. But, Wayzata thwarted numerous other Wildcat scoring opportunities, ending the second period with a one-goal lead.

The Wildcats fielded just six forwards and three defensemen and it showed in the third period. Wayzata added a goal from a sharp angle as well as an empty net goal to make the final score Wayzata 5, Chisago Lakes 2.

"We simply ran out of gas as the period wore on," said Lizotte. "It was a difficult way to end the season, but we are very proud of who we have become as hockey players and as individuals. We exceeded everyone's expectations in going 34-6-2 and taking fourth place in the state tournament. It is a season that all of us will always remember."

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