Own goal mistakes cost Chisago Lakes

The tenth-seeded Wildcats were responsible for all three goals in their section quarterfinal game at second-seeded Hermantown on Saturday, October 13. Unfortunately, two of those goals went into their own net and the Wildcats lost 2-1 to end their season. The Wildcats took a 1-0 lead early in the first half. The Hermantown goalkeeper saved a shot on goal but dropped the ball. Hannah Trandahl, rushing in to follow the shot, one-timed the ball into the net. But just a couple of minutes before halftime, a Hermantown player attempted to cross a ball through the Wildcat penalty area. It went over defender Laura Burch. As Rikki Waldoch rushed in from the other side to clear the ball away, the ball hit off her leg and went past Gabby Randall into the Wildcat net to tie the game at 1-1. With five minutes left in the second half of the golden goal overtime, Trandahl made a nice move to beat three players on the edge of the Hermantown box. She moved in toward the net and chipped it straight into the goalkeeper’s hands. The keeper quickly punted the ball as Hermantown players chased the ball down the field. Randall raced out of the box and kicked the ball as hard as she could. But it bounced off an oncoming Hermantown defenseman, past Randall and into the Wildcat net for the winning goal. “It was an evenly balanced game,” said Wildcat head coach Chris Haggerty. “Gabby made a couple of fantastic saves to keep us in it. I figured we would do well in the playoffs this year. We played very well and it was a hard loss to take.” “In terms of wins and losses, this was not as successful a season as people had hoped for,” said Haggerty. “But as a coach, I think it was my most successful season. We were able to bring together as a team players that initially lacked confidence. We improved a lot in the second half of the season. I told the team to forget about the results. The fears started to disappear and we actually started to play some soccer. We didn’t get blown out by anybody. Our worst game was a 4-0 loss against Irondale that we’d like to forget. And we played very well against Totino Grace, losing 4-1 after Totino scored three goals in a five minute span early in the second half. We didn’t concede too many goals this year. Our biggest problem was scoring goals. There are lots of positive things to take out of this season. And we are losing just three seniors – Hannah Trandahl, Laura Burch and Gwen Vitalis. Our new conference will not be as difficult as the North Suburban and we’ve got some good young eighth graders to add into the mix. I am really excited for our potential the next few years.”