---

St. Francis 3, Chisago Lakes 1

The Wildcats battled to a 1-1 halftime tie with St. Francis, but the Fighting Saints scored the only two goals of the second half to beat the Wildcats 3-1 Tuesday, September 4 at St. Francis.

The Fighting Saints opened the scoring 15 minutes into the first half, and the Wildcats tied it up five minutes later. Amanda Houle got the ball on the right hand side of the penalty area and pushed the ball across to Cassie Trandahl on the left. Trandahl put a nice shot into the left corner to knot the score at 1-1. But the Saints scored two in the second half to earn the victory.

"We had our chances in this one," said Wildcat head coach Brett Kjos. "We had 11 shots on goal, but only got one past their goalie. It was a pretty even game except for a few plays. Our inexperience showed in the second half as they had two scoring plays by crossing the ball to the far post which we didn't defend properly. Our communication needs to improve, too."

Totino Grace 7, CL 0

Totino-Grace showed why they're ranked second in the state as they thrashed the Wildcats 7-0 at Chisago Lakes Thursday, September 6.

"They're just a really good team," said Kjos. "And we played them at a bad time, since they were really ticked off after a loss to their archrival, Benilde, two days earlier. We'll continue to strive to get to their level."

South St. Paul 3, CL 0

The Wildcats played what head coach Brett Kjos called their "best game of the season," at South St. Paul Saturday, September 8. But the Packers showed why they're one of the best teams in the state, beating the Wildcats 3-0.

To put the game in perspective, the Packers lost to Mahtomedi just 2-0 earlier this season. That was an impressive showing because Mahtomedi was ranked sixth in the nation at the end of last season.

Cassie Trandahl nearly scored for Wildcats to break the shutout, but a through ball went just a little too far in front of her and the goalie beat her to the ball.

The Wildcats played the game without the services of injured junior midfielder Katie Peterson. Her return date is uncertain.

"We showed a lot of improvement in this one," said an effusive Kjos. "We worked on a new formation and some other new wrinkles in practice and it all worked well in the game, even though we didn't score.

"Freshman Hannah Fredrickson played well on defense. She's been asking a lot of questions to try to improve and she showed that she's been paying attention. Hannah Cadry, moved from forward to midfield, played her best game ever. She was involved in some nice crossing plays. We're starting to gel on what has been a long journey and we hope to continue taking steps forward like we did tonight."

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 7 p.m. They'll head to West St. Paul to take on St. Croix Lutheran Monday, September 17 at 4:30 p.m.

---