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Chisago Lakes 16, Sleepy Eye 1

Junior Riley Doriott scored four goals for his first career hat trick and playmaker Andrew Habel had and incredible six assists as the Wildcat boys' hockey team romped over hapless Sleepy Eye 16-1 last Monday, December 28 in the opening game of the Lake Classic Tournament at Forest Lake. But the accomplishments of Doriott and Habel were overshadowed by the fact that leading scorer Cory Lushanko broke his wrist early in the game and, after surgery the next day, may be out the rest of the season.

Lushanko, a junior, scored two goals in the first minute of the game and was injured soon thereafter as an unlucky result of a clean hit by a Sleepy Eye player. Lushanko's loss could be a major blow for a Wildcat team that relies on him for significant contributions on offense. Time will tell if other Wildcat players can step in to fill the void.

Lushanko's two goals gave him 12 in his last four games. Ory Burggraff, Tommy Johnson and Jeffrey Sargeant also scored two goals each. Cole DuBose, Jeff Lizotte, Matt Petersen and Habel each tallied a goal, as well. DuBose had four assists for the first five-point game of his career. Matt Stamos, Lizotte, Johnson and Sargeant each had two assists, and Tyler Henderson, Burggraff, Kyle Hagglund and Doriott each chipped in with one assist.

Sleepy Eye is ranked 155th out of 156 Minnesota high school boys' hockey teams on the Web site minnhock.com.

Chisago Lakes 6, East Ridge 1

Junior Andrew Habel picked up the scoring slack for injured linemate Cory Lushanko, scoring a hat trick to led the Wildcats to a 6-1 win over East Ridge in the semifinals of the Lake Classic last Tuesday, December 29. Habel didn't neglect his playmaking duties, either, as he assisted on the other three Wildcat goals to give him six points for the game and 13 points in the last two games. Habel is ranked fifth in the state with 20 assists and ranks fourteenth overall in scoring with 28 points.

The Raptor's only goal came in the second period. A Wildcat defenseman skated toward a Raptor moving through the left side of the neutral zone with the puck. The Wildcat defenseman appeared to be in position to check the Raptor and stop his rush, but the Wildcat defenseman inexplicably stopped and let the Raptor continue past him with the puck. This created a two-on-none for the Raptors and they took advantage of the situation, scoring to end the Wildcats' shutout bid.

Ory Burggraff also had three assists for the Wildcats. Jeff Sargeant, who has been getting a lot more involved in the scoring side of the game this season, added two goals and an assist. Matt Petersen notched two assists, and Brett Lizotte added a goal to round out the scoring for the Wildcats.

Kyle Buchanan stopped 14 of 15 shots to earn the win. Even though the Wildcats outshot East Ridge just 24-15 for the game, they were well in control after taking an early 3-0 lead and surviving a little bit of a letdown midway through the second period. It was the fifth straight game in which a Wildcat player scored a hat trick, a school record.

Andover 9, Chisago Lakes 3

In the championship game of the Lake Classic tournament, the Wildcats and 15th-ranked Class AA Andover were tied 2-2 after the first period. But Andover's array of hard shots became hard, accurate shots after the first period as they dominated the Wildcats and came away with a 9-3 win last Wednesday, December 30.

Habel opened the scoring with an unassisted goal just 3:27 into the fist period. But Andover scored just 14 seconds later to tie the game at 1-1. Cole DuBose's goal four minutes later, assisted by Ory Burggraff, put the Wildcats up 2-1. It looked like the score would stay that way after one period, but the Huskies scored on a power play with just four seconds left in the period to knot the game at 2-2.

Andover scored early in the second period to take the lead, but Brett Lizotte's goal at around the eight minute mark tied the game at 3-3. Habel picked up an assist on Lizotte's goal. The tie was short-lived, however, as the Huskies scored again just over a minute later to re-take the lead. They stunned the Wildcats with three goals in a two-minute span late in the period to effectively put the game out of reach. The Huskies scored two more goals in the third period to make the final score 9-3.

Andover outshot the Wildcats 39-26 for the game.

The Wildcats return to the ice tonight, hosting St. Francis and the state's leading scorer, Joey Benik, at 7 p.m. at Chisago Lakes Arena.

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