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Somerset 4, Chisago Lakes 1
The Wildcat boys’ hockey team outshot Somerset 37-15, but Somerset goalie stopped 36 of those 37 shots.  Meanwhile, Somerset scored on four of its 15 shots to beat the Wildcats 4-1 at the Somerset Civic Youth Center on Tuesday, November 28.

After a scoreless first period, Somerset scored twice in the first four minutes of the second period to go up 2-0.  They added another goal at the 11:37 mark to stretch their lead to 3-0.  But with time running out in the period, Ben Johnson passed the puck up the left boards to Chase Mehlhorn.  Mehlhorn picked up the puck at the Somerset blue line.  As he skated into the zone, the Somerset defenseman fell down.  Mehlhorn cut to the front of the net.  Another defender tried to trip him, but Mehlhorn stayed on his feet, skated to the top of the crease and flipped the puck into the upper right corner of the net with nine seconds remaining in the period to cut the Somerset lead to 3-1.  But the was as close as the Wildcats would get.  Somerset scored with five minutes left in the third period to make the final score 4-1.

Chisago Lakes 8, Mora/Milaca 0
Three Wildcats – Sam Helland, Tate Swanson and Devin Wahlberg – scored two goals each as the Wildcats scored three goals in the first period and five in the second to crush Mora/Milaca 8-0 last Thursday, November 30 at Chisago Lakes Arena.  Wildcat goalie Will Burgen stopped all 12 shots he faced for a shutout in his first start of the season.  Burgen also had an assist on the Wildcats’ final goal.

Ben Johnson and Nathan Caudill each scored a goal for the Wildcats.  Playmaker Luke Zaruba had three assists.  Chase Hemme and Alex Bachmeier had two assists apiece, and Chase Mehlhorn, Jace Meierhoff and Adam Hanson each picked up one assist for the game.

Chisago Lakes 4, River Falls 4
The Wildcats scored three times in the third period to take a 4-3 lead over River Falls, the but River Falls scored with 2:25 left in regulation to tie the score at 4-4.  Neither team scored in overtime, so the game ended in a tie.  The teams played at Chisago Lakes Arena on Saturday, December 2.

River Falls scored the only goal of the first period to go up 1-0.  They scored again at the 11:41 mark of the second period to go up 2-0.  With three minutes left in the period, Devin Wahlberg sent a pass from the right half wall to Ben Johnson at the right point.  Johnson snapped a quick shot on net.  The goalie made the save, but the puck caromed into the right circle and Wahlberg, following the play, skated in and fired a one timer past the goalie to cut the River Falls lead to 2-1.

Early in the third period, the Wildcats were controlling the puck well on a power play.  From the right point, Same Helland passed the puck to Jake Larson deep along the right boards.  Larson passed the puck across ice through traffic to Nathan Caudill in the bottom left of the left circle  Caudill slid a low angle shot along the ice towards the net that somehow made it past the goalie and into the back of the net to tie the game at 2-2 at the 4:22 mark.  But River Falls answered with a power play goal of their own at 6:07 to go up 3-2.

And the flurry continued.  Two minutes later, from deep in the River falls zone, Wahlberg passed the puck from the left corner to Meierhoff near the left point.  Meierhoff skated to the center of the blue line and whacked a slapshot into the lower left corner of the net to tie the game at 3-3.  Earlier in the play, Chase Mehlhorn had done a nice job keeping the puck in the zone at the left point and backhanding it in deep.  And almost exactly on minute after Meierhoff’s goal, Larson passed the puck out of the Wildcat zone to Helland at neutral ice.  Helland fed it to Caudill, who skated to the outside of the right circle and wristed a shot into the upper left corner of the net to give the Wildcats a 4-3 lead at the 9:01 mark.  It looked like the Wildcats might come away with a come-from-behind win.  But River Falls scored late to in the period to tie things up, and that’s where it stayed.

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