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Chisago Lakes 7, Northern Edge 3

The Wildcat boys’ hockey team broke open a tie game with four straight goals in the first half of the third period and went on to pummel the Northern Edge 7-3 on Tuesday, November 25 at East Bethel Arena.  The game was not as close as the score indicated, as the Wildcats outshot the Edge 53-18 for the game.  Playmaker Astin Slettom had four assists, and Jacob Kletti and Max Koch tallied four points each.  Goalie Ethan Carlson saw his first action of the season and stopped 15 of the 18 shots he faced to get the win.  The game featured four shorthanded goals between the two teams, with the Wildcats getting three of them.

After the Edge took the lead seven minutes into the first period, Colton Horak scored to tie it up just under a minute later, assisted by Austin Slettom and Max Koch.  Jacob Kletti scored a shorthanded goal at 13:29 of the period, with the assists going to Slettom and Koch, and the Edge scored a minute later to make it 2-2 heading into the first intermission.  The score stayed that way through the second period, despite the Wildcats firing 18 shots at Edge goalie Gage Husby.

Colton Horak gave the Wildcats the lead for good with a goal just 42 seconds into the third period.  Kletti and Cooper Toepper got the assists.  Two minutes later, Koch scored the Wildcats’ second shorthanded goal of the game, assisted by Slettom and Kletti.  Toepper got in on the fun at the six-minute mark, with Quin Ryan getting the assist.  Zach Carlson made it 6-2 two minutes later, assisted by Carson Purdy and Ashton Warnke.  The Edge scored a minute later to cut the Wildcat lead to 6-3, but Kletti answered with the third Wildcat shorthanded goal of the game – and his second of the game – to make the final score 7-3.  And, not surprisingly, Slettom and Koch assisted on Kletti’s goal.

Chisago Lakes 5, Hudson 2

Colton Horak scored twice and goalie Jacob Schaeppi stopped 24 of the 26 shots he faced to lead the Wildcats to a 5-2 win over the Hudson Raiders Friday, November 28, at the Hudson Sports and Civic Center.

Nick Hansen scored for the Wildcats midway through the first period, sandwiched between two Hudson goals.  Max Koch got the assist on Hansen’s goal.  After that, it was all Wildcats.  Horak scored a power play goal midway through the third period to tie the game at 2-2, assisted by Austin Slettom and Colton Whiterabbit.  Jacob Kletti scored a power play goal at 3:31 of the third period to give the Wildcats a 3-2 lead.  Hansen and Koch picked up the assists on the game-winner.  The score stayed at 3-2 until Hudson pulled their goalie late and the Wildcats scored two empty-netters.  Whiterabbit scored at 15:39, assisted by Slettom and Horak, and Horak scored with eight seconds left in the third period, with Koch and Kletti getting the assists.

Chisago Lakes 5, Orono 5

The 20th-ranked Wildcats trailed the 16th-ranked Orono Spartans 4-0 late in the second period but came roaring back with five straight goals to take a 5-4 lead midway through the third period.  The Spartans tied it up with three minutes to go, and neither team scored in overtime.  The game was played Saturday, November 29 at Chisago Lakes Arena. The Spartans outshot the Wildcats 50-43.  In case you were wondering, 93 shots in 58 minutes of ice time —a lot of shots.  Wildcat goalie Jacob Schaeppi stopped 45 of 50 shots for the game, including 23 of 24 shots in the third period and overtime combined.

Quin Ryan got the Wildcats on the board with a goal at 16:17 of the second period, assisted by Landon Kerkow and Nick Hansen.  

The Wildcats and Spartans combined for 32 shots in the third period alone.  Austin Slettom scored just over a minute into the period to cut the Orono lead to 5-2, with the assists going to Jacob Kletti and Colton Horak.  Max Koch scored a power play goal just over two minutes later, assisted by Colton Whiterabbit and Slettom.  Kletti scored at 4:45 to tie the game at 4-4.  Koch and Horak got the assists.  And the Wildcats took a 5-4 lead on Kletti’s shorthanded goal at 7:36, with Whiterabbit and Slettom assisting.  It was Kletti’s third shorthanded goal in the last three games. Orono’s Jackson Knight tied it late in the period.  

The fans certainly got their money’s worth watching this game.

Hockey Hullaballoo

Three Wildcats lead the state in scoring early in the season.  

Jacob Kletti is tied for first with nine goals.  Max Koch and Austin Slettom are tied for the lead in assists with 10.  And Kletti leads the state in total points with 14, followed closely by Koch, who is tied for second with 13 total points.

The undefeated Wildcats (3-0-1) will head to Moose Sherritt Ice Arena in Monticello to take on the Monticello Moose at 7 p.m. tonight. And  Tuesday, December 9 they will head to the Pine City Civic Center to try to snuff out the Dragons, with the festivities getting underway at 7 p.m.

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