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Chisago Lakes 4, Moorhead 3 (OT)

Sam Lorr's second goal of the game 2:25 into the overtime period gave the Wildcats just their second win of the season, a thrilling 4-3 win over the Moorhead Spuds in the second round of Centennial's holiday tournament last Tuesday, December 30.

The Wildcats were skating shorthanded in overtime because of a questionable penalty call. But Krista Liebsch got control of the puck on the sideboards in the Wildcat zone and fed it to Lorr. Lorr rushed down the ice one-on-one. With the defenseman still in front of her, she took a low shot from the high slot. The shot caught the screened goalie by surprise and went right between her legs and into the net for the win.

Moorhead opened the scoring with a power play goal just two minutes into the first period. But the Wildcats answered with a power play goal of their own just over a minute later. Laura Greene took a shot from the point. The goalie attempted to glove the shot, but it bounced off her glove and dropped to the ground in front of the net. Megan Lushanko knocked the errant puck into the net to tie the game at 1-1.

Neither team scored again till the third period. The Spuds scored just over a minute into the period to take a 2-1 lead. But at the 5:45 mark, Lorr's shot from the low slot beat the goalie on the lower left hand side to tie it up again. The Spuds re-took the lead just 30 seconds later. With six minutes left in the period, Lushanko deflected a puck into the net for her second goal of the game, assisted by Ashley Gibson and Lorr. Lushanko's goal set the stage for the exciting overtime finish provided by Lorr.

"Playing against Centennial yesterday, we played one of our worst games of the season," said Wildcat head coach Jason Mahlen. "Today, we played one of our best games of the season against a very good team. I'm very happy that our girls showed some resiliency. They came ready to play, played hard and were rewarded with a victory. And it's about time this season that a few bounces went our way."

Goaltender Sam Bretheim stopped 22 of 25 shots in the win.

Elk River 3, Chisago Lakes 0

The Wildcats played another good game the next day but couldn't put the puck in the net, losing to Elk River 3-0 in the final game of the Centennial tournament. Elk River scored all three of their goals in a six minute span encompassing the end of the second period and the beginning of the third period.

"Elk River capitalized on a couple of turnovers, but we kept them in check for the most part," said Wildcat head coach Jason Mahlen. "We had more puck possession than they did, but we failed to capitalize on several 2-on-1 and 3-on-2 scoring opportunities. I'm proud of how our girls played for the second straight game."

Proctor/Hermantown/Marshall 7, Chisago Lakes 0

The Wildcats actually outshot highly-ranked Proctor 8-7 in the first period, but Proctor scored the only two goals in that period. Proctor poured it on in the second period, scoring five goals on their way to a 7-0 over the Wildcats last Saturday, January 3 at Chisago Lakes.

"We played a good first period," said Wildcat head coach Jason Mahlen, "but we were overwhelmed by a superior opponent in the second period. We've talked about playing three periods of complete hockey every game. Against Proctor, we played two good periods out of tree and you can't get away with that against a team of that caliber. Proctor continued to play their top lines in the third period, and I was happy to see our team come back out, play hard and hold them scoreless in the third period."

The Wildcats (2-10) were scheduled to host Benilde-St. Margaret's this past Tuesday, January 6. They'll host Spring Lake Park at Chisago Lakes Arena tomorrow night, Friday January 9, at 7 p.m. before heading to Fogerty Arena to play Spring Lake Park this coming Saturday, January 10, at 7:30 p.m.

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