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Here's a recap of early season results for the local high school teams:

North Branch Girls

The Viking girls are off to a 4-1 start this season. They opened up by beating three section opponents; they shut out Eveleth-Gilbert 2-0, thrashed North Lakes Academy 12-0 and beat Princeton 5-2. They opened conference play with an 8-0 shutout at home against Columbia Heights. The Vikings suffered their first loss of the season Tuesday, September 6, losing 7-0 on the road to conference powerhouse Totino Grace. After the first two games (statistics are not yet posted for the last three games), Bayley Ertl led the Vikings with six goals and Emma Pignato had three goals and an assist. Three other players had three points apiece: SherahLynn Linkert had three assists, Ragnhild Selje had two goals and an assist and Morgan Morgenstern has scored three goals.

North Branch Boys

After getting off to a 2-0 start, as reported last week, the Vikings improve their season and section record to 3-0 with a 6-0 shutout of Princeton. They opened the conference season with a 4-1 loss to Columbia Heights. On Tuesday, September 6, they lost to conference foe Totino Grace to drop their record to 3-2. After five games, Logan Klatt leads the Vikings in scoring with 6 goals and one assist, including hat tricks against Spectrum/Big Lake and Princeton. Trent Holmes has two goals and three assists and Justin Brunet has scored three goals and assisted on two others.

Chisago Lakes Girls

The Wildcats tied their first three games this season. They opened with a 1-1 tie at home against Cambridge-Isanti. "We possessed the ball 85 percent of the time against Cambridge." Said Wildcat head coach Chris Haggerty, "but we couldn't put our chances away in that one." The Wildcats then traveled up north and battled Duluth Denfeld to a 4-4 tie. Down 2-0 at halftime, the Wildcats switched to a 3-4-3 and came back to tie it 2-2 in the second half. Denfeld scored twice to take a 4-2 lead and the Wildcats came back to tie it again. The four Wildcat goals came from four different players. The Wildcats opened the conference season at home on Thursday, September 1 with a 1-1 tie against St. Francis.

Chisago Lakes Boys

After starting 2-0, as reported last week, the Wildcats continued their winning ways. They opened the conference season at home with a 1-0 win over St. Francis. On Tuesday, September 6, they traveled to New Hope and beat conference opponent Robbinsdale Cooper 2-1 to remain undefeated overall (4-0) and in conference play (2-0).

Don't forget to check out the schedule on the second page of the sports section to see upcoming games for all four of the soccer teams.

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