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Chisago Lakes 2, North Branch 0
Wildcat freshman Addyson Barrett had a goal and an assist to lead the Wildcats girls’ soccer team to a 2-0 win over the Vikings Thursday, September 3 at North Branch.

Barrett scored in the 25th minute with a free kick that arched over the North Branch defense, beyond the outstretched hands of Viking senior goalkeeper Hailey Maurer and into the back of the net to put the Wildcats up 1-0.  The Wildcats started to control the ball a bit more in the second half.  In the 63rd minute, Barrett sent a corner kick into the 6-yard box.  Sophomore Ruby Dircks one-touched it into the back of the net to double the Wildcat lead to 2-0,  The Wildcats kept the Vikings off the scoreboard the rest of the way to complete the shutout.

Wildcat head coach Wayne Kugel said “this match is a perennial highlight of the girls’ high school soccer season in Chisago County.  These matches have both section and conference standing implications.“  Viking head coach Josh Kopp said “We don’t have to ask out girls to get up for a game against Chisago.  Our goal was to make it a good soccer game.  The last couple of years we played them tight, but we were always teetering on the edge of the game getting away from us.  This year, it was a better overall soccer game.  They scored both goals off of set pieces.  In the first half, we did a great job of moving the ball and creating a lot of chances.  We had the ball more in their half of the field, but we just couldn’t find the back of the net.  In the second half, we were somewhat mentally and physically fatigued and the ball spent more time in our end.  What came out of this was that we know we can play with them and could have easily flipped the score.  Even though this was a loss, there are a lot of positives we are able to take away from this one.”

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