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Benilde-St. Margaret's 5, CL 2

Despite being outshot 33 to 11 for the game, the Class A Wildcats put forth a good effort. But, the third-ranked Class AA Benilde-St. Margaret's Red Knights beat CL 5-2 Thursday, January 10 at Chisago Lakes Arena.

Benilde took a 1-0 lead early in the first period, and held the Wildcats without a shot on goal for the first eight minutes of the game. The 'Cats first "shot" was a strange but fruitful one. Andy Slagle had the puck a few feet to the right of the Red Knight net and tried to snap it through the crease to a teammate on the other side. But, the puck hit something - a stick or a skate - and popped up in the air. As the Benilde goalie looked for the puck, it fell over his left shoulder and into the net to tie the score at 1-1.

The Red Knights added one more goal in the first period and two in the second to take a 4-1 lead. The Wildcats made it interesting as Slagle scored just 14 seconds into the third period, this time off a rebound of Nick Bratrud's shot that pulled the Wildcats within two. But that's as close as the Wildcats would get as the Red Knight defense just didn't allow the Wildcats to shoot. The Red Knights scored again late in the third period to make the final score Benilde-St. Margaret's 5, Chisago Lakes 2.

"We played them strong this year," said Wildcat head coach Corey McKinnon. "We've gotten beat 12-3 and 8-0 the last two years. We held them to 33 shots, and a lot of those were from the perimeter. We showed we're a good hockey team. We play with speed, passion, grit and discipline. It allows us to be in a dogfight with a team as highly-ranked as Benilde. But, on the flip side, the trouble we have putting the puck in the net also lets teams like Cooper get into a dogfight with us."

SCORING SUMMARY

Benilde-St. Margaret's 2 2 1-5

Chisago Lakes 1 0 1-2

1st Period

BS 1 Holmers (Almstrom) 3:41; CL 1 Slagle (unassisted) 8:11; BS 2 Glynn (McCormick, Knauff) 15:55

2nd Period

BS 3 Holmers (Almstrom, Patterson) 4:03; BS 4 Almstrom (McCarthy, Patterson) 13:04

3rd Period

CL 2 Slagle (Bratrud) 0:14; BS 5 Zierke (Student, Appelhof) 13:50

Saves: CL Krumm 28, BS Shibrowski 9

Irondale 5, Chisago Lakes 2

The Wildcat scoring woes continued against the Irondale Knights Saturday, January 12. The Knights outshot the Wildcats 29-16 on their way to a 5-2 win at Schwan's Super Rink in Blaine.

Andy Slagle scored the game's first goal at 5:44 of the first period. With the puck deep in the Wildcat zone, the Knight defense cheated up. Slagle stole the puck and chipped it up the left sideboards. Tyler Willis picked up the puck and sped down the left side two-on-none with Slagle. Willis drove toward the net and looked like he was going to shoot. The goalie bit on the fake and Willis slid the puck across to Slagle. Slagle fired the puck into the wide open net, notching his third goal in the last two games. The Knights came back with two goals later in the period to take a 2-1 lead after one.

DJ Haus tied the score with an unassisted shorthanded goal early in the second period. The Knights scored to re-take the lead near the end of the period, and then scored just over two minutes into the third period to go up by two. They sealed the win with a goal at 15:04, making the final score Irondale 5, Chisago Lakes 2.

"Right now we're playing hard at both ends of the rink," said Wildcat head coach Corey McKinnon, "we just aren't making big plays. We need to develop that creativity, that 'pond hockey' sense to score goals. We've got players with dedication, heart and passion. Andy Slagle has been putting them in the net for us the past few games, but we need to find more than just one player with that goal-scoring touch."

SCORING SUMMARY

Chisago Lakes 1 1 0-2

Irondale 2 1 2-5

1st Period

CL 1 Slagle (Willis) 5:44; IR 1 Cunningham (Gjere) 8:46; IR 2 Batcha (Baker) (pp) 14:07

2nd Period

CL 2 Haus (unassisted) (sh) 4:10; IR 3 Lammi (Cunningham) 13:44

3rd Period

IR 4 Baker (Cunningham) 2:11; IR 5 Baker (unassisted) 15:04

Saves: CL Krumm24, IR Bortot 14

The Wildcats will host conference foe, Spring Lake Park, tomorrow night, Friday, January 18, at 7 p.m.

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