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The Wildcat girls' hockey team, making its first state tournament appearance since 2004 and only the second appearance in team history, won the tournament's consolation championship and proved that they belonged among the best teams in the State of Minnesota.

Warroad 11, Chisago Lakes 1

The Wildcats got the worst possible draw n their opening game when they were randomly picked to face the top-seeded Warroad Warriors, the eventual tournament winner. Warroad showed why they were ranked number one in the state this season, thrashing the Wildcats 11-1. The game took place last Wednesday evening, February 24 at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul.

The Wildcats nearly killed off their first penalty of the game, but the Warriors scored a power play goal with one second left in the penalty to take a 1-0 lead at the 6:15 mark of the first period. Warroad scored again at 12:23. A puck was passed out from behind the Wildcat net to a Warrior player standing alone just outside the crease, and she quickly shot it into the back of the net to make it 2-0.

The Wildcats cut the lead to one with just under two minutes remaining in the first period. Skating in the Warrior zone, Megan Lushanko passed the puck back to Ashlee Ricci at the left point. Ricci slid a quick wrist shot along the ice toward the net. The Warrior goalie appeared to be screened, and never saw the puck as it crossed the goal line just inside the right pipe and pulled the Wildcats back within one.

Wildcat goaltender Jamie Dobosenski made two big saves in the next 20 seconds to keep the game close, stopping a breakaway and knocking away a shot from another player firing from just outside the crease. But the Warriors were relentless, and scored with 1:18 left in the period to take a 3-1 lead. Dobosenski kept the game close, picking off an attempted tip-in right out in front of the net and stopping a wraparound attempt with one second left in the period.

The relentless Warriors shut down the Wildcat offense for the rest of the game while putting on an impressive display offensively as they scored eight goals over the next two periods while keeping the Wildcats scoreless, winning the game by a final score of 8-1.

The two best players on the ice for the Wildcats were sophomore wing Marisa Peterson and sophomore goaltender Jamie Dobosenski. Peterson played a nearly mistake-free game for the Wildcats. Her passing was crisp and accurate, she always seemed to be in the right position, knew when to dump the puck in the zone and when to carry it in. Peterson isn't a flashy player, but she does a lot of things to help her team succeed. Dobosenski stopped 44 of the 55 sots she faced. Usually, an 80 percent save percentage isn't considered all that good. But it may have been one of Dobosenski's best games of the season. Warroad fired high quality shots at Dobosenski and she had to keep making great save after great save. Several times she had to stop more than one rebound when the defense failed to clear the puck away. The Warriors had to work hard to get every goal they got.

"We were very excited to be playing in the state tournament," said Peterson. "We thought we were still in the game when Ricci scored in the first period. We tried to keep our confidence up as they kept scoring goals, but it seemed to keep going down as the game went along." Senior center Sam Lorr added "That game was definitely an eye-opener. But I'm so happy we made it to the state tournament. Win or lose, I made it. Since I started playing high school hockey in seventh grade, this is what I've always worked for."

The players were delighted with the support they received from their fans. "Some of the boys in the stands painted their bodies," said Peterson. "It was nice for the focus to be on the girls' team instead of the boys' team for once." Added Lorr, "The school threw a pep fest for us. There was a lot of excitement during our section run and during the state tournament. And there were a lot more fans."

Dobosenski, playing well despite a knee injury, was impressed by the Warriors. "They threw a lot of tough shots at me. I tried to stop everything, but they were deadly at picking the corners." Wildcat head coach Jason Mahlen was happy to have his top goaltender for most of the season. She only played in three games last year because of injuries, " he said. "She re-injured her knee and missed the first several games of this season. But she showed a lot of toughness playing through the pain. She's a pretty talented goalie and her level of play continued to improve throughout the season."

"Warroad was as good as advertised," said Mahlen. "That certainly wasn't an ideal draw for us. But you don't get to pick who you play. We made a lot of mistakes, but Warroad definitely has another speed of play that we hadn't seen all season. We are a pretty young team and we know our defense can improve. We were in a great frame of mind before the game, and I'm proud of our team for playing hard throughout the game no matter what the situation was."

Chisago Lakes 5, Faribault 3

Megan Lushanko scored the tiebreaking goal 2:38 into the third period, and senior Ashley Gibson added an empty-netter with 1:21 remaining as the Wildcats beat fourth-seeded Faribault 5-3 last Thursday, February 25 in the first round of the consolation bracket at Ridder Arena.

Five different players scored for the Wildcats in this one. Sophomore defenseman Katie Johnson opened the scoring with an unassisted goal on the power play four minutes into the game. Exactly four minutes later, sophomore Laura Monson scored, assisted by senior linemate Sam Lorr, to make the score 2-0. The Falcon's Megan Bergland cut the Wildcat lead to one with three minutes left in the period.

Eighth-grader Allison Borgstrom, assisted by sophomore Ashlee Ricci, scored to stretch the Wildcat lead to two at the 8:51 mark of the second period. But Faribault scored 90 seconds later to once again pull within one.

Bergland tied the game 3-3 with a goal 1:48 into the third period. But Lushanko, assisted by Borgstrom and Ricci, scored to break the tie less than a minute later. Gibson's unassisted empty-netter made the final score Chisago Lakes 5, Faribault 3 and sent the Wildcats on to the consolation final game against Hutchinson.

Chisago Lakes 8, Hutchinson 2

The Wildcats put on an offensive show in the consolation championship game. Sophomore Megan Lushanko had a hat trick and an assist. The Wildcats excelled on special teams, scoring three power play goals and three shorthanded goals as they rolled over the Hutchinson Tigers to win the consolation championship last Saturday, February 27 at Ridder Arena.

Lushanko was voted the game's number one star. Senior center Sam Lorr, who had two goals and an assist for the Wildcats, was the game's number two star. Senior Ashley Gibson added a goal and two assists. Wildcat senior forward Jenna Dobosenski played one of her best games of the season as all three seniors shined in their final appearances in Wildcat uniforms. It was fun the three of them skate out to accept the consolation championship trophy, the first piece of hardware a Chisago Lakes hockey team has ever brought home form a state tournament.

Eighth-grader Allison Borgstrom added a goal and an assist for the Wildcats. Marisa Peterson scored a power play goal in the second period, assisted by Lushanko and freshman Alison Ives. And Miranda Beimert picked up an assist on Lushanko's second period power play goal. The Wildcats completely dominated play in this one, outshooting the Tigers 38-16. Sophomore goalie Jamie Dobosenski played another solid game, stopping 14 of the 16 shots she faced.

Wildcat head coach Jason Mahlen was pretty excited after the win. "At the beginning of the season," he said, "If you had told me we were going to end up as the consolation champions at the state tournament, one of only six high school girls hockey teams in the state to end the season with a win, I'm not sure if I would have believed you. But Jamie Dobosenski, our top goaltender, got healthy enough to play and our seniors really stepped it up. Sam Lorr played a solid all-around game all season and gave maximum effort every time she stepped on the ice. Ashley Gibson played well all season and really stepped up her play the last three weeks, becoming a difference-maker that propelled us through the playoffs. And Jenna Dobosenski showed how perseverance and a good attitude pay off. Even though she was one of our captains, she started the season skating mostly JV minutes. Set a great example for the rest of the team by not complaining about it. She earned her way back to the varsity and played regularly on the third line during the second half of the season. Her line gave us a lot of valuable minutes on the ice, keeping the other teams at bay while allowing our top two lines to stay fresher throughout games."

And while the Wildcats will miss their three senior players, the core of the team this season was sophomores. Don't be surprised to see the Wildcats make another run at the state tournament next season.

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