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It’s not always easy having the biggest target on your back, as the Chisago Lakes boys lacrosse team found out getting every teams’ best effort in the early rounds of sections.

Chisago Lakes 12, Andover 2

The Wildcats opened up their Section 7 play with a 10-goal win over eighth-seeded Andover, but it took some time to really pull away from the Huskies.

“We knew going into playoffs that every game is important and that we don't overlook any team,”

Head Coach Mark Nordby said. “We certainly weren't with Andover. On film, we saw that their best scorer was pretty much their whole offense, so we decided to put Nate Bluhm on him and just take away any scoring chances.  Nate did a tremendous job of eliminating that scoring threat.”

The strategy proved to be very effective as Andover struggled to score as the Chisago Lakes offense worked out a few kinks.

Cullen Dorcas, Ben Kerkow, Max Olson, Kadin Passeretti and Landon Kerkow all had two goals for the Wildcat offense. Passeretti added three assists and Dylan Dassner had two assists.

“Our offense was decent but once again, as coaches, we feel like we've still got another level that we can get to,” Nordby explained. “There were times we got a little impatient and tried to force through too many defenders.  We'll need to play great team lacrosse to continue playing.”

But, Nordby did see enough glimpses to believe the explosion is coming for the CL attack.

“At times, the offense was spectacular with crisp passing and getting the ball to the teammate in the best position to score,” the coach said. “When we do that, it's awesome Wildcat ball.  That's the level we want to play at, the rest of the season.”

Chisago Lakes 10, Anoka 3

The ‘Cats moved on to the section championship with another methodical win in the section semi-finals over fifth seeded Anoka on Tuesday, June 6.

For a full recap of that game, and the section championship game against Centennial, check out next week’s Chisago County Press. 

The championship game is  Thursday, June 8 at Chisago Lakes with the ‘Cats second ever berth in the state tournament on the line. The Cougars beat Duluth 15-10 in the other half of the bracket to advance.

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