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Chisago Lakes 7, St. Francis 2

The Wildcats boys soccer team spread the fun around as seven different players scored goals in its 7-2 win over the St. Francis Fighting Saints Tuesday, September 4 at St. Francis.

Scoring for the Wildcats in the blowout were Aaron Bergerson, Zak Vrudny, Ben Stanghelle, Neil Taurinskas, Cameron Bouwens, John Gulbranson and Zach Lukas. Cruceru and Brandyn Johnson had two assists apiece, and Lukas and Mark Shaleen completed the scoring column for the Wildcats, each notching one assist.

CL 2, Totino Grace 2 (OT)

Brandyn Johnson's tying goal with 39 seconds remaining in regulation gave the Wildcats a 2-2 tie with the second-ranked Totino Grace Eagles Thursday, September 6 at Chisago Lakes.

Wildcat head coach Mark Leigh called the game "a little crazy," and the craziness started right off the bat. Two minutes into the game, a Wildcat player was called for a handball in the Wildcat penalty area, resulting in a penalty shot for the Eagles. The Eagle player nailed the shot, giving the high-powered team an early 1-0 lead.

Down by one, the Wildcats struck back almost immediately. Just three minutes after the Eagles' goal, Johnson sailed a long free kick into the penalty area. Dominic Novak trapped the ball and quickly popped it up and over the goalie's head and into the net to tie the score at one goal apiece.

Ten minutes later, the Eagles regained the lead on a play similar to the Wildcat goal. The Wildcats appeared to have scored to tie the game just before halftime, but were called offsides on the play.

Wildcat goalie David Berget made two spectacular saves in the second half to hold the Eagle lead to one. One save came on a low, hard shot into the corner that Berget dove for and knocked away. The other big save came as he leaped to knock away what looked like a sure goal ripped toward the upper right corner of the net.

Trailing with just a few minutes left in the game, the Wildcats switched to a more offensive formation, putting three players at forward. And the change worked. With less than a minute remaining, Cameron Bouwens fed Johnson a nice ball into the left side of the Eagle penalty area. Johnson dribbled across the top of the box and ripped the ball past the diving Eagle goalie into the right corner to tie the score at 2-2 with just 39 seconds remaining in regulation.

Neither team scored in overtime, resulting in a big tie for Leigh's young team.

"That was a huge game for us," said Leigh. "David really looked like a goalie tonight. Brandyn had an unbelievable goal right at the end of the game. We got some great minutes out of Tyler Kari, Mark Shaleen and Zak Vrudny and we just played well as a team. Tyler Pojanowski did a great job on defense and has really helped to solidify things since we moved him back there.

The Wildcats were scheduled to face the Fridley Tigers, a tough conference opponent, Monday, September 10. They'll welcome archrival North Branch this afternoon, Thursday, September 13, at 5 p.m. The Wildcats will travel to Mahtomedi Friday, September 14 at 4 p.m. to battle the Zephyrs. The former section rivals beat the Wildcats 1-0 in last year's section championship game. They'll return home to take on St. Croix Lutheran next Monday, September 17 at 7 p.m.

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