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Cambridge-Isanti 2, Chisago Lakes 0
In the championship game of the Open Division of the Schwan Cup, scoring opportunities were hard to come by for both teams.  The Cambridge-Isanti Bluejackets outshot the Wildcats girls’ hockey team 19-11.  The Bluejackets, a fellow member of the Mississippi 8 Conference, were able to take advantage of two of their opportunities and shut out the Wildcats 2-0  The loss snapped the Wildcats’ four game winning streak.  The game was played at Ridder Arena on the campus of the University of Minnesota last Wednesday, December 28.

The teams battled in a first period that showcased a lot of skating and passing and little else.  But just three minutes into the second period, the Bluejackets scored to take a 1-0 lead.  Midway through the period, Wildcat Danielle Burgen picked up a puck along the right boards just outside her own blue line and skated toward the Bluejacket end.  As a Bluejacket defender skated in to challenge her, Burgen bounced the puck forward off of the right boards.  The Cambridge defender was caught flatfooted as Burgen skated around her and picked the puck up on the other side.  She made a beeline for the Bluejacket net as a two-on-one developed.  Burgen got to the middle of the circle and decided to pass instead of shoot, and her pass across to a wide-open teammate was broken up by a Bluejacket defender, allowing Cambridge to maintain their one goal lead.

The Bluejackets scored an insurance goal just 33 seconds into the third period to go up 2-0.  The Wildcats dominated play late in the period, holding the puck in the Bluejacket zone for nearly five minutes straight after the halfway point but not generating many good scoring chances.  Cambridge then took a penalty for too many players on the ice at the 14:31 mark, and the Wildcats had two minutes of power play to make something happen.  But while they dominated puck possession throughout the power play, they again failed to score and their fate was sealed.  The Wildcats finished as runners up in the Open Division of the Cup.
 
Hockey Hullaballoo
The Wildcats (4-9-0) get back into regular season tonight with a non-conference, non-section game against Holy Angels at the Al Payne Memorial Arena in Richfield at 7 p.m.  Next up is a game this Saturday against Dodge County at the Dodge County Ice Arena in Kasson at 5 p.m.  And on Tuesday, December 10, the road warriors will face the Princeton Tigers (12-3-0) at the Princeton Ice Arena.  The catfight gets underway at 7 p.m.  The Tigers, a conference and section opponent, are ranked fifth in the state in Class A.

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