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By winning their last three games in a row, the Wildcat girls' soccer team (7-7-0) set a season record for wins, surpassing the previous mark of six wins. And since, amazingly, all seven wins have been shutouts, that means junior goalkeeper Mary Burch has set a school record for shutouts. The Wildcats (7-7-0) have been hot lately, winning four of their last five games after suffering through a six game losing streak in the middle of the season.

Of course, Burch has had some help in setting the shutout record. The Wildcat starting defense consists of senior Ashley Gibson, senior Bailey Elwood, junior Hannah Fredrickson and sophomore Ashlee Ricci. "They've been playing really well," said Burch.

Chisago Lakes 1, Hermantown 0

Junior Cassie Trandahl scored the Wildcats' only goal in a 1-0 win over Hermantown last Monday, September 28 at Chisago Lakes. Burch had to make quite a few nice saves to keep the Wildcats in the game. Stadium announcer Dedric "Dietz" Dittrich commented on Burch's prowess at the end of the game, saying "Mary, Mary, quite contrary, didn't let a single one in."

Chisago Lakes 1, Robbinsdale Cooper 0

Trandahl again scored the Wildcats' only goal and Burch made all the saves she needed to as the Wildcats beat conference opponent Robbinsdale Cooper 1-0 last Tuesday, September 29 at Cooper.

Chisago Lakes 2, Two Harbors 0

Goalkeeper Burch and the stingy Wildcat defense kept Two Harbors off the scoreboard, and goals by Gibson and sophomore Megan Lushanko gave the Wildcats all the scoring they needed as they beat Two Harbors 2-0 last Saturday, October 3 at Chisago Lakes.

In the first half, Burch made a nice catch off a corner kick. Also, a shot deflected off a Wildcat defender and hit the post, bouncing harmlessly away. Gibson scored the Wildcat's first goal. She took a direct free kick from about 30 yards away. Gibson's ball bounced in front of the Two Harbors goalkeeper. As the keeper reached to grab the ball, it skipped under her arm and into the net to put the Wildcats up 1-0. Later, the Cassie Trandahl got a pass to Megan Lushanko. Lushanko went on a long run down the field and put it in the net to increase the Wildcat lead to 2-0.

The Wildcats were scheduled to play at St. Francis this past Monday before returning home to face St. Louis Park on Tuesday. Tonight, the Wildcats will finish out the regular season at home against one of the best teams in the state, Benilde-St. Margaret's (12-1-0 overall, 6-0-0 conference) at home at 5 p.m. The Section 7A playoff preliminaries begin next Wednesday, October 14, and there's a good chance the Wildcats will get a high enough seed to get at least one home game in the playoffs. Next week, we'll recap this week's final regular season games and preview the section playoffs.

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