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North Branch 1, Princeton 0
Sophomore Sylvia Linkert scored the only goal of the game 25 minutes into the second half to give the Viking girls’ soccer team a 1-0 victory over the Princeton Tigers Tuesday, September 18 at Princeton.  It was just the second win of the season for the Vikings.

Midway through the second half, the Tigers had the ball deep in their defensive zone and were trying to transition the ball to midfield.  Linkert, a holding midfielder, intercepted a pass and carried the ball to just outside the top of the box.  She shot the ball just inside the far right post and into the back of the net to give the Vikings the lead , and they hung on for the win.  Viking head coach Josh Kopp said “It was a game that was pretty much back and forth.  We did win the possession time battle.  Our keeper and our defense played a really good game and it was a good goal by Sylvia.  It was nice to get a conference win.”
 
North Branch 2, Big Lakes 2 (OT)
With the Vikings trailing the Big Lake Hornets 2-0 late in the second half,  sophomores Sylvia Linkert and Paige Bauer scored just one minute apart to give the Vikings a 2-2 tie with the Big Lake Hornets Saturday, September 22 at the Sunrise School in North Branch.

Big Lake scored on a free kick and off a corner kick in the first half to take a 2-0 lead into halftime.  Viking head coach Josh Kopp said “Big Lake carried the pace of play in the first half.  In the second half, we picked up the pace of play.  The last ten minutes of the game was definitely all North Branch.”  The Vikings were rewarded for their efforts in the second half when Linkert scored on a free kick in the 75th minute.  In the 76th minute, eighth-grader Kayla Allison brought the ball into the top of the Big Lake box and got around a couple of defenders.  She passed the ball to Allison at the six-yard line and Allison one-timed it past the goalkeeper and into the back of the net.  Neither team scored in overtime and the final score stayed at 2-2.  Kopp said, “Coming back against a decent team like this gave our players quite a bit of confidence.”
 
Monticello 10, North Branch 0
The soaking-wet Vikings ran into a buzz saw at Monticello this past Monday, falling 10-0 to the Magic, one of the top teams in the Mississippi 8 Conference.  The Vikings trailed 6-0 at halftime and put in some players that don’t get a lot of playing time in the second half.  Curiously, the Magic chose to play their starters the entire game, including junior Abi Frandsen, who has committed to play soccer for the Division 1 University of Minnesota Golden Gophers following graduation.  Viking head coach Josh Kopp said “Monticello and St. Michael are the top two teams we have played this season.  It seems like they have girls everywhere.  And it was raining for the last two-thirds of this game.  I wanted to get our starters out of there in the rain and get some other players some varsity experience.”

CHISAGO LAKES GIRLS
Chisago Lakes 2, Big Lake 1
Katherine Saueressig and Selina Lee both scored in the second half to give the Wildcats a 2-1 win over the Big Lake Hornets Tuesday, September 18 at Big Lake.  The Hornets and Wildcats went back and forth throughout a scoreless first half.  The second half was a different story as the Wildcats started to dominate possession.  In the 57th minute, Lauren Schanus launched a huge throw in deep in the attacking third from the sideline.  The ball was deflected by a Hornet defender to Saueressig, who sent the ball sailing from 20 yards over the keeper and into the net.  The Wildcats continued to control play for the next ten minutes until Madison Kubalek was fouled in the box.  Once again, Selina Lee was called upon to take the penalty kick.  Lee planted the ball squarely in the back of the net to put the Wildcats up 2-0.  It was Lee’s fifth penalty kick goal of the season.  The Hornets scored in the 75th minute to pull within one.  But the Wildcats held them off for the rest of the match and walked away with another win.
 
Monticello 5, Chisago Lakes 0
The Wildcats hosted the University of Minnesota Division 1 recruit Abi Frandsen and the Monticello Magic last Friday, September 21 at Chisago Lakes High School.  The Magic dominated a majority of the possession and scored five unanswered goals.  Wildcat head coach Wayne Kugel said, "The Magic came to play.  With a number of our starters down with injury, we found ourselves moving players around and trying new things.  We lost to a better team.  But, it gave us an excellent opportunity to give our youngest players extended playing time to gain valuable experience."
 
Chisago Lakes 3, Cambridge-Isanti 1
Playmaker Katherine Saueressig set up two of the Wildcats’ three goals as they beat conference foe Cambridge-Isanti 3-1 this past Monday at Cambridge-Isanti High School.

Coming off a big loss to Monticello, it was important for the Wildcats to have a good rebound match.  And they came out on fire.  The Wildcats dominated possession early, connecting on pass after pass. In the 12th minute, Katherine Saueressig poked a ball through the defense to Avery Constant, who converted from 20 yards out to put the Wildcats up 1-0.  In the 47th minute, in a transition attack the ball went from Kaitlyn Wille to Selina Lee to Avery Constant to Claire Meyer, who slipped through the defense and finished off the excellent display of passing with a goal.  One minute later, Cambridge-Isanti countered with a goal of their own, tightening the score to 2-1.   But in the 60th minute, Saueressig intercepted a kick from Cambridge in the attacking third and found Megan Cartier, who smashed a shot into the back of the net from 25 yards out to make score 3-1, giving the Wildcats a little insurance as they finished out the win.

CHISAGO LAKES BOYS
  The last four games for the Wildcat boys’ soccer team have resulted in shutouts – two of them wins and two of them losses.  The Wildcats crushed the Big Lake Hornets 7-0 Tuesday, September 18 at Chisago Lakes.  They lost to the Monticello Magic 4-0 last Friday at Monticello.  The Wildcats hosted the Duluth Denfeld Hunters this past Saturday and were gracious hosts, falling 3-0.  They got back on the winning track with a 4-0 win over the Cambridge-Isanti Bluejackets this past Monday.
 
Soccer Notes
The Wildcats (5-5-0) will head to Buffalo tonight to face the Bison at 7 p.m.  On Monday, October 1 they will play a 5 p.m. home game against the Cloquet Lumberjacks.  And on Tuesday, October 2, the Wildcats will play the St. Michael-Albertville Knights at 7 p.m. at the Community Education Field in St. Michael.

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