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Rochester Lourdes 9, Chisago Lakes 1

In what head coach Corey McKinnon referred to as "an eye-opening experience" for his young team, the fifth-ranked Rochester Lourdes Eagles pounded the Wildcats 9-1 last Tuesday, December 16 at Chisago Lakes Arena. Junior Tommy Johnson scored the Wildcats' lone goal, assisted by senior Cale Arhart, early in the second period.

"That was the real deal," said McKinnon. "They chipped away at us early and our guys got pretty tired after two periods. One big positive out of this game was that Lourdes only scored on one of their six power plays. To kill off five of them was a good sign. We had been working on making adjustments in practice and it paid off for us."

Chisago Lakes 3, St. Paul Saints 2

Sophomore Andrew Habel's goal halfway through overtime gave the Wildcats their first triumph of the season, a 3-2 victory over the St. Paul Saints last Thursday, December 18 at Chisago Lakes.

Just a few seconds after the Wildcats had failed to convert on their ninth straight power play (including a three-minute long five-on-three), Habel held the puck behind the Saints' net. He quickly skated out to a point a couple of feet in front of the left side of the net and jammed the puck home, reminding his teammates, the coaches and the fans what a win smelled like. Habel was mobbed by his teammates. "It was exciting to see the kids having so much fun celebrating the win," said McKinnon. "That was a defining moment in our season."

Habel got the Wildcats on the board with an I-can't-believe-what-I-just-saw shorthanded goal four minutes into the first period. He took a pass from senior Sam Howard and skated into the zone down the left side. Nearing the net, he put a fake on the Saint's defenseman, pulled the puck back and fired it right between the defenseman's legs. The goalie never saw the puck as it whizzed by him to put the Wildcats up 1-0. The Saints tied it up with a power play goal just two minutes later. But with just under five minutes left in the first period, the Wildcats worked a textbook play to re-take the lead. Tommy Johnson carried the puck into the Saints' zone into the corner. He worked it behind the net, and then fired a pass out to a wide open Cale Arhart between the points just inside the blue line. Arhart ripped a low snapshot toward the net, and well-positioned junior Cole DuBose tipped the puck past the Saints' goalie to put the Wildcats back in front. The Saints tied the score early in the third period, setting the stage for Habel's exhilarating game-winner.

"When St. Paul scored to tie it in the second period," said McKinnon, "our players didn't hang their heads on the bench. They didn't have that 'here we go again' mentality. There was more of a sense of 'we're going to get the next one.' That's a sign that we're maturing as a team."

McKinnon continued "Cale has done a good job from the point this season. He's taking the types of shots that we need - he puts nice, low shots on the net that lead to tip-ins and rebound goals. One of his shots this game led to a goal and that certainly won't be the last one this year. And on that goal, Tommy Johnson again showed his great hockey sense by drawing defenders with him behind the net, leaving Cale more open at the point."

Chisago Lakes 6, Cambridge-Isanti 3

Tommy Johnson's rebound goal just over five minutes into the third period broke a 3-3 tie as the Wildcats went on to a 6-3 win over the hated Cambridge-Isanti Bluejackets last Saturday, December 20 at Chisago Lakes Arena. The Bluejackets had scored two goals in a 40-second span to erase a 3-1 Wildcat lead early in the third period, but Johnson's crushed the Bluejackets' surge with the tiebreaker just 50 seconds after the Bluejackets had tied the game. Sophomore Cory Lushanko brought the puck into the zone at three-quarters speed. The Bluejacket defenseman fell for the bait and slowed down to match Lushanko's speed. Lushanko turned on the afterburners and burst by the defenseman. His shot hit the goalie in the lower right pad. Johnson, following the play, put the rebound in the back of the net. Johnson scored again with just under a minute remaining to give the Wildcats a two-goal cushion. Lushanko's empty-net goal with ten seconds left gave him his second hat trick of the season.

Andrew Habel erased a 1-0 Cambridge lead with a power play goal at the 11:23 mark of the first period. He crashed the net for a rebound and picked up the puck along the goal line to the right of the net. He snapped a sharp-angled backhand shot toward the net and it somehow got into the back of the net for a goal. Two minutes later, the Wildcats took the lead on Lushanko's breakaway power-play goal, with assists credited to Habel and Cale Arhart. Lushanko scored again just over a minute into the second period, assisted by Habel and Matt Petersen, to increase the Wildcat lead to 3-1 and set the stage for all of the theatrics later in the period.

"After we beat St. Paul," said Wildcat head coach Corey McKinnon, "we were more upbeat in practice. Cambridge is a good team and just came off of a big win against Cloquet. But even when we got behind 1-0 early, I sensed a positive feel on the bench."

In addition to the accomplishments of Johnson, Habel and Lushanko, McKinnon mentioned some other key contributors in the win. He said "Matt Petersen played very well, especially giving us some strong forechecking. Kyle Hagglund and Brett Lizotte both gave us some good scoring opportunities. And Ben Bratrud has played well in the nets in both of his starts for us this season, making all the saves he should be making and stopping over ninety percent of the shots fired at him."

The Wildcats and Forest Lake will host a varsity and JV hockey tournament December 27, 29 and 30. The varsity games will be played at Chisago Lakes. The Wildcats open the tournament at 8 p.m. Saturday night.

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