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Generally, a team that finishes the season 6-20-1 would not be considered successful by most observers. But the youthful Class A Wildcat girls hockey team battled key injuries, played a mostly Class AA schedule this season and came within the toe of a goalie's skate from making it to a winnable section final game.

Senior defenseman Katie Peterson missed most of the season with a torn ACL, and the projected starting goalie, freshman Jamie Dobosenski, had a hand injury and a knee injury that limited her to just six games this season. Playing perhaps the toughest schedule of any Class A team in the state toughened up the Wildcats, allowing them to easily defeat International Falls in the section quarterfinals. And the Wildcats' inspiring comeback in the section semifinal game against Silver Bay came up just short. The goalie never saw a Wildcat shot with little time left in the game that appeared headed into the net and would have tied the score at the time. But the puck hit the goalie's skate and bounced to the side. Silver Bay scored not long after that and the Wildcats lost 5-3.

"I thought our season was a success for a number of reasons," said Wildcat head coach Jason Mahlen. "Even though our record wasn't very good, you could see by the attitude and effort of our players at practice that they enjoyed competing. It's hard to believe you have a losing record when your players come into the arena with smiles on their faces every day. Also, we were the academic team champions for the North Suburban Conference again, Katie Peterson and Laura Green were academic all-state and Krista Liebsch was academic all-conference. Those awards speak well of the players we have who epitomize the image of the true student-athlete."

Mahlen continued, "This year's seniors were four of the hardest-working girls we had in the program, both on the ice and in the weight room." He talked a little about each of them:

Katie Peterson - "Katie had a rough season coming off of ACL surgery. She worked very hard to rehab her knee. Not every player would work that hard just so she could play at the end of her senior season. I was happy to see her play the last quarter of the season, and she was just starting to round into form during the last couple of games."

Katie Wilkerson - "I didn't know what to expect out of Katie coming into this season, but she ended up being a full-time contributor for us. When Katie Peterson was hurt, we moved Katie Wilkerson back to defense. She turned into a vocal, positive leader for us and had a nice season."

Krista Liebsch - "Krista was one of our captains this year. She's a quiet player, but leads well by example. She worked hard in the weight room and on the ice, and her leadership will certainly be missed next year."

Laura Greene - "Laura was also a captain and one of the vocal leaders of our team. She wasn't afraid to be a tough leader when she needed to be, but maintained a good rapport with her teammates. She worked hard on lifting and shooting the puck in the offseason and developed an excellent slap shot. That shot, combined with her offseason work in the weight room, led to a successful senior season. She was second on the team in points, which is pretty impressive for a defenseman."

The Wildcats have reason for optimism heading into next season. While it's always tough to lose key senior to graduation, nine freshmen and an eighth-grader lettered for the Wildcats this year. Mahlen then talked about his returning players. He said "A lot of our younger players got significant varsity time this year. Our returning upperclassmen are hard-working, good role model types. We expect Sam Lorr and Megan Lushanko to once again be significant contributors on offense. Marisa Peterson and Laura Monson have the ability to be good goal scorers. They gave us a peek at their potential this season, and we're hoping for them to take the next step up next season. And Ashley Gibson's move to forward this season turned out to be a success. She really came on at the end of the season and we're looking for more points from her next season. We'll need out young defenders, such as Katie Johnson and Ashlee Ricci, to step up since our defensive core is graduating this season. We expect significant contributions from Jenna Dobosenski, Mary Burch, Leah Freundschuh, Danielle Tossey, Anna Petersen, Katie Sorenson and Laura Burch. It will be interesting to see which of this year's JV players step up to the varsity level next season. And we look forward to having a healthy Jamie Dobosenski in the nets next season"

He continued "I want to compliment goalies Sam Bretheim and Amanda Budde. When Jamie was hurt, the two of them were asked to step in, with virtually no varsity experience, and play significant roles on the team. Both of them improved significantly throughout the season, and the fact that they got a lot of playing time this season will make our goaltending corps even stronger next season."

Here are this season's awards for the Wildcat girls' hockey team:

All-Conference

Laura Greene, Megan Lushanko

All-Conference Honorable Mention

Samantha Lorr, Krista Liebsch

Conference Academic Champions

Chisago Lakes Wildcats

Academic All-Conference (Seniors Only)

Katie Peterson, Laura Greene, Krista Liebsch

Academic All-State (Seniors Only)

Katie Peterson, Laura Greene

TEAM AWARDS

Most Valuable Player - Laura Greene

Offensive Player of the Year - Megan Lushanko

Defensive Player of the Year - Laura Greene

Most Improved - Amanda Budde

Hardest Worker - Samantha Lorr

Rookies of the Year - Mary Burch, Ashlee Ricci

Hobey Baker Sportsmanship Award - Laura Greene

SEASON SCORING LEADERS

Total Points - Megan Lushanko, 27

Goals - Lushanko, 18

Assists (tied) - Ashley Gibson, 16, Laura Greene, 16

LETTER WINNERS

Laura Greene, Krista Liebsch, Katie Peterson, Katie Wilkerson, Sam Bretheim, Jenna Dobosenski, Ashley Gibson, Samantha Lorr, Mary Burch, Leah Freundschuh, Danielle Tossey, Amanda Budde, Jamie Dobosenski, Katie Johnson, Megan Lushanko, Laura Monson, Anna Petersen, Marisa Peterson, Ashlee Ricci, Katie Sorenson, Laura Burch

Senior Laura Greene earned the Wildcats' MVP award this year.

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