October 20, 2011 at 9:44 a.m.
Wildcats make it to the section finals for second straight year
Wildcats make it to the section finals for second straight year
Chisago Lakes 4, Proctor 0
Facing ninth-seeded Proctor (8-8-3 overall) in the quarterfinals of the Section 7A playoffs, Wildcat forward Gwen Vitalis scored another hat trick and the Wildcat defense did not allow the Rails a shot on goal until the 64th minute. Sixteen minutes later, the Wildcats completed a dominating 4-0 shutout of the Rails last Saturday afternoon, October 15 at Chisago Lakes.
In the 13th minute, the Wildcats were doing a great job holding the ball deep in the Proctor zone. Kelsey Ryan received a pass on the right side of the Proctor box. She tapped the ball to Vitalis, who ripped a shot inside the left post, somehow squeezing it past the goalkeeper to give the Wildcats a 1-0 lead. Just three minutes later, Kelsey's sister Kaylee Ryan passed the ball to Vitalis from right to left in the Proctor box and Vitalis slid it inside the left post to put the Wildcats up 2-0.
In the 46th minute, Hannah Trandahl carried the ball into the top of the box directly in line with the right post. She slid a beautiful ball through to Marissa Alliegro, who one-timed it into the wide open left side of the net to put the Wildcats up 3-0. Trandahl topped her earlier play with eleven minutes remaining. She got a hold of the ball at midfield and dribbled through several Rail players down the middle of the field into the box. She put a ball through to Vitalis standing all alone in front of the net, and Vitalis tapped it in to complete her hat trick and make the final score Chisago Lakes 4, Proctor 0.
"Once we scored in this one," said Wildcat head coach Chris Haggerty, "there was never any doubt we were going to win. We kept the pressure on because we didn't want them to have any hope, to think that they could get back in the game. And we were able to sub quite a bit in the last 20 minutes of each half. We've got depth at all positions, so our level of play doesn't drop that much when we put in the bench players. It's nice to be able to get everyone in the game when you get a chance."
Chisago Lakes 3, Duluth Denfeld 0
The Wildcats broke open a close game with two goals in a five minute span midway through the second half as they shut out the fourth-seeded Duluth Denfeld Hunters 3-0 this past Tuesday, October 18 in the semifinals of the section 7A playoffs.
After the first five minutes of the game went back and forth, the Wildcats dominated the game completely. They had several great scoring chances in the first half, but didn't break through till the 30th minute. Gwen Vitalis took a corner kick from the right corner. Hannah Trandahl raced in to meet the ball at the right edge of the Denfeld box about 10 yards out and headed it inside the left post to give the Wildcats a 1-0 lead.
The Wildcats finally got a little breathing room in the 58th minute. Vitalis got a hold of the ball at the top edge of the Denfeld box right in the center. She spun around and ripped a shot past the keeper and into the right half of the net to increase the Wildcat lead to 2-0. Five minutes later, Vitalis ran hard into the right side of the box to try to beat the Denfeld keeper to a loose ball. Vitalis got to the ball and popped it to Kelsey Ryan at the top of the box. Ryan shot the ball into the empty net to put the Wildcats up 3-0.
The goalkeepers for both teams were stellar in this one. Wildcat keeper Gaby Randall seemed to make all of the right decisions and timed her actions well. Denfeld had a number of breakaways attempts. The Wildcat defense was able to push them off the ball a few times. When they did get through, Randall either ran out to beat the Denfeld player to a ball that was pushed a little too far ahead or came out to cut down the angle so much that the shots went right into her from nearly point blank range. And Denfeld keeper Megan Lazzaro made several nice saves, keeping the score from being much worse.
"I am so proud of all the girls," said Wildcat head coach Chris Haggerty. "They battled hard and worked hard the whole game. They beat a good, strong Denfeld team. Gwen Vitalis and Hannah Trandahl are building a good understanding with each other out there. It was nice to see Kelsey Ryan get a goal. She came out of the game with a split lip. I encouraged her to get back in there as soon as she could and she scored a few minutes later. She works hard all over the field and it's nice to see her get rewarded. Marissa Alliegro had a fantastic first half, with three or four good scoring opportunities. And Hannah Trandahl had a great game tonight. She was instrumental in every aspect of the game."
"We are looking forward to the championship game against Esko," said Haggerty. "If we play the way we are capable of, we should win the game. We've talked about our potential with the players. If everyone plays their best, we can win the state tournament. But we still have to take each game one at a time. We will be the first Chisago team in a long time to play in front of our home fans for a section championship. I always tell the players to go out there and leave it all on the field and whatever happens, I will be proud of them. We've created a good team unit. No one complains about playing time and they all seem to enjoy playing. They make my job as a coach pretty easy."
Third-seeded Esko/Carlton beat Hermantown 2-1 in overtime in the other section semifinal game. The Wildcats (12-2-4 overall) beat Esko/Carlton 4-1 three weeks ago. Once again, tonight's Section 7A championship game will be played at 7 p.m. at Chisago Lakes High School. Come on out and cheer the Wildcats on to a second straight appearance in the state tournament. If the Wildcats do win tonight's game, they will play their first state tournament game October 26, 27 or 28. The date, location and time will depend upon seeding once the section championships are decided. You can find out more information at mshsl.org or nsconference.org.
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