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Head coach Jason Mahlen enjoyed his first season at the helm of the Wildcats. "No matter what the circumstances," he said, "the girls always came ready to practice and ready to play. They worked hard and were coachable. It impressed me that they were like this all the time, even though we didn't have the win-loss record we wanted to."

"I am also proud of our team's academic success," continued Mahlen. "It's a great achievement for a team to have three players who are on the All-Conference Academic team and two players who are on the All-State Academic team. I'm also excited that our team was the top academic team in the conference. It says a lot for the quality of the athletes we have on our team."

The Kitten Club (Story in last week's issue of the Press) is designed to foster relationships and empower girls through the sport of hockey. Girls who play in the Chisago Lakes Hockey Association are paired with a "Big Sister Mentor" who plays on the Chisago Lakes High School varsity or junior varsity girls' hockey team.

"I'm happy with the way the Kitten Club worked out," said Mahlen. "I'm proud of our players and the youth players who participated. Whether it was a pizza night, a scrimmage or another activity, both groups of girls seemed to have fun and benefit from the relationship."

Mahlen talked a little about his first year as head coach of the Wildcats. "Even though I've been an assistant coach here for a while," he said, "it's different when you're in charge. I know it can be tough for seniors playing under a new head coach with a different style for the first time. But, our seniors rose to the challenge and provided the leadership, both on and off the ice, that we needed to help us get through a transition season. We'll certainly miss them as we move into next season."

Record

Season Record 9 - 15 - 2

Conference Record 7- 6 - 1 (4th Place)

Team Awards

Most Improved

Shannon Segarra

Hardest Worker

Ariel Novak

Offensive Player of the Year

Rhiannon Sauter and Morgan Baumgard

Defensive Player of the Year

Ariel Novak

Most Valuable Player

Erica Pitzen

Rookie of the Year

Ashley Elumba

North Suburban All-Conference

Rhiannon Sauter

Morgan Baumgard

Ariel Novak

North Suburban All-Conference Honorable Mention

Samantha Lorr

Academic All-Conference (Seniors Only)

Morgan Baumgard

Rhiannon Sauter

Abby Olson

Academic All-State

(Seniors Only)

Morgan Baumgard

Abby Olson

Hobey Baker Sportsmanship Award

Kate Boynton

Team

North Suburban Conference Academic Champions

Letter Winners

Seventh

Megan Lushanko

Ninth

Ashley Gibson, Samantha Lorr , Katie Peterson

Tenth

Laura Greene, Rachel Miles , Krista Liebsch

Eleventh

Kristen Dobosenski, Ashley Elumba, Shannon Segarra, Erica Pitzen), Jessica Lorr, Ariel Novak

Twelfth

Abby Olson, Kate Boynton, Morgan Baumgard, Rhiannon Sauter

Statistical Leaders

Goals 16

Morgan Baumgard

Assists 18 Rhiannon Sauter

Total Points 32 Rhiannon Sauter

Plus/Minus +9 Rhiannon Sauter

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