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Chisago Lakes 3, Grand Rapids 1

Center midfielder David Rau, a transfer student from Germany, assisted on both of Cameron Bouwens' first half goals as the Wildcat boys soccer team beat Grand Rapids 3-1 in the season opener last Friday, August 28 on the perfect turf field at Chisago Lakes High School.

In the ninth minute of the first half, Ben Stanghelle passed the ball to Rau near the left corner in the Grand Rapids zone. Rau dribbled down the goal line through three defenders and passed the ball to Bouwens on the left side of the box. Bouwens ripped a beautiful shot into the upper right hand corner to put the Wildcats up 1-0. In the 25th minute, Rau passed the ball to Bouwens standing five yards in front of the Grand Rapids net, to the left of the goalkeeper. Bouwens rolled the ball into the right corner to make the Wildcat lead 2-0.

But Grand Rapids wasn't about to give up. Two minutes into the second half, they hit the crossbar with a shot. Five minutes later, the Wildcat defense failed to clear a ball away from the front of the net and Grand Rapids put a nice shot into the upper right corner to cut the Wildcat lead to 2-1. That's where the score stayed until 13 minutes remained in the game. Bouwens took a corner kick from the left corner. Dominic Novak, standing just outside the right post, shot the ball off the inside of the post. The ball ricocheted to the middle of the five yard box, and a rushing Ben Stanghelle knocked the ball in the net to give the Wildcats a two-goal lead.

Chisago Lakes 8, Duluth Denfeld 3

The Wildcats led 5-0 at the half against Duluth Denfeld and appeared headed for an easy victory. But Denfeld fought back to score three straight goals in the second half to cut the Wildcat lead to 5-3. Tension remained until the 'Cats scored three late goals on Saturday, August 29 at Chisago Lakes. Ben Stanghelle notched a hat trick for the Wildcats.

The Wildcats seemingly scored at will in the first half. Stanghelle got the Wildcats' first goal just three minutes into the game. David Rau passed the ball to Cameron Bouwens in the Denfeld box. Bowens misfired, but Stanghelle picked up the ball, shot it off the right post and knocked in his own rebound. Rau scored on free kick from 30 yards out that appeared to go right through the goalkeeper's chest just a few minutes later. At the 12 minute mark, Rau dribbled down the middle through the defense and set up Bouwens' first goal of the game to make it 3-0.

With just over ten minutes left in the half, Novak lofted a free kick from 45 yards out near the left sideline toward the right post. Joey Cartier kicked the ball out of the air inside the left post for his first goal of the season. And Rau finished off the first half with a flourish. His corner kick from the right corner curled toward the net, hit the far post in the air and went into the net to make the score 5-0.

According to stadium announcer "Dietz" Dittrich, Rau "bent it like Beckham!"

The Wildcats seemed to relax a little early in the second half, and Denfeld scored three goals to cut the lead to 5-3 and put the outcome back in doubt. Rau re-entered the game halfway through the half and helped to stabilize play. The Wildcats scored three in the last final ten minutes to put the game out of reach. Brian Erickson headed a Bouwens corner kick toward the net, but it ricocheted off the head of a leaping Grand Rapids player. The ball bounced around in the penalty area, and Cartier ripped the ball off the inside of the left post and into the net.

Another Bouwens corner kick ended up in the net on a double-header - Cartier headed the ball to the left and Stanghelle headed it into the net. And with just under a minute remaining, Stanghelle completed his hat trick with a flourish. He carried the ball down to the goal line on the left side of the net. He ripped an impossible angle shot into the upper right corner to put the finishing touches on the Wildcats' 8-3 win.

"We had Denfeld whipped," said Wildcat head coach Mark Leigh, "and then we gave up three goals to let them back into the game. We need to be more consistent on defense. A lot of guys played well in the first two games, and we got scoring from several different players. We're certainly excited about the fact that a highly-skilled player like David is here as our center midfielder."

The Wildcats were scheduled to play at Roseville on Tuesday, September 1. Rau and Bouwens will lead the Wildcats against archrival North Branch and their scoring star Peter Grand tonight at 7 p.m. at Chisago Lakes. Next Tuesday, September 8, the Wildcats will travel to St. Anthony Village High School to take on Spring Lake Park at 7 p.m.

Chisago Lakes' Cam Bouwens rises up for a header against Grand Rapids. Bouwens scored two of the 'Cats three goals in the game.

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