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CL/PC 6, Totino Grace 1

Sisters Jess and Sam Lorr each scored an unassisted shorthanded goal and the line of Krista Liebsch, Laura Greene and Sam Lorr scored three straight power play goals to crush the visiting Totino Grace Eagles 6-1 last Friday, January 4 at Chisago Lakes Arena. The Wildcats outshot the Eagles 36-12 for the game, and had an incredible 26-3 shot advantage after two periods.

Because of Wildcat defensive pressure, the first Eagle shot came on the power play with nearly 11 minutes into the first period. On that same power play, a forechecking Jess Lorr stole the puck in the low slot in the Eagle zone. The goalie never had a chance as Lorr sniped a quick shot into the upper left corner of the net for a shorthanded goal to give the Wildcats a 1-0 lead.

"Jessica works hard the whole game, backchecking, forechecking and doing a lot of little things to help us out," said Wildcat head coach Jason Mahlen. "It's nice to see her capitalize on a scoring opportunity like that."

The Eagles took advantage of a rare 3-on-1 break to tie the game at 2:44 of the second period. The Wildcats answered back just over a minute later. Sam Lorr carried the puck into the Eagle zone against two defensemen. She skated down the left side and carried the puck all the way around the back of the Eagle net. From the right corner, she fired the puck into the crease. The puck appeared to bounce off an Eagle defender's skate and go into the net to give the Wildcats another one-goal lead.

Ashley Elumba used her speed to score the Wildcats' second shorthanded goal of the game. She picked up a loose puck outside the Eagle blue line, curled into the top of the left circle and ripped a wrist shot into the upper right corner of the net to put the Wildcats up 3-1. "Ashley picked up the puck and really put on the afterburners," said Mahlen. "That was a nice goal. Ashley backchecks well and I've been very pleased with her play this year." With just six seconds remaining in the period, Krista Liebsch knocked in a rebound of Sam Lorr's shot on the power play to put the Wildcats up 4-1. Laura Greene also assisted on the play.

The Wildcats added another power play goal midway through the second period. Katie Peterson took a pass from Sam Lorr and skated into the Eagle zone and left a nice drop pass for Greene, who fired it into the net to stretch the lead to four goals. "Katie really showed a lot of composure on that play," said Mahlen. "She has the ability to make plays like that and I'm glad she was rewarded with an assist on the play." Greene scored the game's final goal with less than 30 seconds remaining to make the final score Chisago Lakes 6, Totino Grace 1.

"We played very well in this game, but I never expected to beat them 6-1," said Mahlen. "A win like this is the product of playing well against tough competition this season, most recently in the holiday tournament at Centennial. We had trouble capitalizing on scoring opportunities during that tournament, but we certainly took advantage of our chances tonight."

"I was glad to see our special teams units perform so well," continued Mahlen. "Scoring two shorthanded goals and three power play goals is big in any game, but it's really nice against a historically tough conference rival. And I was very pleased with the play of our first line. Sam Lorr, Greene and Liebsch had eight points between them. They've played consistently all season and it was wonderful to see their hard work pay off for them tonight."

Totino-Grace 0 1 0-0

Chisago Lakes 1 3 2-0

1st Period

CL 1 J. Lorr (unassisted) (sh) 11:33

2nd Period

TG 1 Meyers (unassisted) 2:44; CL 2 S. Lorr (unassisted) 3:50; CL 3 Elumba (unassisted) (sh) 10:57; CL 4 Liebsch (S. Lorr, Greene) (pp) 16:54

3rd Period

CL 5 Greene (K. Peterson, S. Lorr) (pp) 7:53; CL 6 Greene (Liebsch) (pp) 16:27

Saves: CL Pitzen 11, TG Parsons 30

Tomorrow night, Friday, January 11, they'll be on the road to take on St. Louis Park at the St. Louis Park Recreation Center at 7 p.m.

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