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Chisago Lakes 5, Princeton 4 (OT)

Junior Jacob Kletti’s laser beam from 40 feet out into the top right corner of the net with 1:09 left in overtime gave the Wildcats a 5-4 win over the Princeton Tigers in the Wildcats’ final home game of the 2024-2025 season.  An aside –this reporter has watched hundreds of high school hockey games over the past 20-plus years, and this is one of the most exciting and most entertaining games I have ever seen.  There was end-to-end action the entire game, nearly 100 combined shots on goal, great saves by both goalies.  For Wildcat fans who were lucky enough to be there, a fantastic way to end the home season with a comeback win as the Wildcats head for the section playoffs.

The Tigers had the first good scoring chance of the game in the first period, hitting the pipe on a shorthanded attempt halfway through the period.  Ben Kerkow scored the only goal of the first period at the 10:50 mark.  Jacob Kletti brought the puck into the Tiger zone down the right side.  He passed the puck ahead to Max Bobrowski at the left edge of the right circle.  Tiger goalie Kole Roth slid right to commit to Bobrowski, who slid a pass over to Kerkow at the lower edge of the left circle.  Kerkow one-timed it into the wide-open left side of the net to give the Wildcats a 1-0 lead.  The Tigers nearly tied it up with 30 seconds left in the period.  A Tiger player stole a pass just outside his own blue line and headed up ice on a breakaway.  Wildcat goalie Brett Hanson made a great save to deny the goal and preserve the Wildcat lead.  Princeton swarmed the net in the lest several seconds of the period, and Hanson stopped at least three shots before the horn finally sounded. The Wildcats dominated play throughout the first two-thirds of the first period, outshooting Princeton 10-2.  But the Tigers ramped it up for the rest of the period, and shots were even at 12-12 heading into the first intermission.

Early in the second period, a bad pass by a Wildcat defenseman from behind his own net allowed the Tigers to keep the puck in the zone, and Dominic Patnode scored for Princeton at 41 seconds to tie the game at 1-1.  Kletti hit the pipe on a long shorthanded attempt seven minutes into the second period.  Princeton’s Connor Stokke sent a long breakout pass to Lane Olson, who is third in the state in goals. Olson skated into the Wildcat zone and fired a shot past Hanson at 7:10 to give the Tigers a 2-1 lead.  Just under two minutes later, Luka Miller sent a pass to Olson, who was hovering at the right side of the Wildcat blue line.  The puck slid into the zone, Olson picked it up, cut around a Wildcat defenseman and fired a shot into the upper right corner of the net to stretch the Princeton lead to 3-1.

It didn’t take long for the Wildcats to mount their comeback.  Just 90 seconds after Olson’s goal, Austin Slettom sent a pass from the left circle to Alex Bever on the right.  Bever one-timed it, and the puck glanced off goalie Kole Roth’s glove and into the upper right corner of the net to cut the Princeton lead to 3-2.  Nick Hanson picked up the second assist on Bever’s goal.  Three minutes later, Bobrowski, who had received a pass from Kletti, sent a puck from behind the left side of the net to Ben Kerkow, who had worked himself open just outside the crease.  Kerkow one-timed it into the net (there were quite a few one-timer goals in this one) and tied the game at 3-3.

The Wildcats took the lead just 2:22 into the third period.  Zach Carlson sent a pass from behind the Tiger net to Ashton Warnke in the slot.  Warnke one-timed it through the five-hole, and the Wildcats led 4-3.  Lucas Ide got the second assist on Warnke’s goal.  Warnke has six goals so far this season, and half of them have come in the two games against Princeton.  Just over 30 seconds after Warnke’s goal, Colton Whiterabbit made a nice play and fired a shot at Roth, who made the save as he was sliding back into the net.  The referees discussed whether the puck had gone over the goal line while in Roth’s possession but determined it had not, and the Wildcat lead stayed at one.  Just over a minute later, the Tigers had a great scoring opportunity, but Hanson turned away the original shot, slid across the crease to block the rebound and stopped a second rebound attempt from a tough angle to preserve the Wildcats’ one-goal lead.

Midway through the period, a Wildcat player fanned on a shot in front of the het.  The Tigers’ Brady Kok picked up the puck and fired a long outlet pass to Olson, streaking up the ice on the left side.  Olson’s shot from the left side beat Hanson, completing Olson’s hat trick and tying the game at 4-4 at the 8:01 mark.  So, despite the Wildcats having dominated the game in the latter parts of the second period and the first half of the third period, the game was tied.  With 2:28 to go in the third period, a Princeton player fell to the ice as he was skating through the top of the crease in front of the Wildcat net.  

It appeared he had just gotten his feet tangled up on his own, but Bobrowski was called for tripping, just the third penalty called in a clean, high-paced game.  The Wildcat penalty killers did a great job shutting down the Princeton power play, and the game headed to overtime.

The pace of the game did not slow in overtime, with 14 combined shots on net.  With time running out in the eight-minute single overtime, Landon Kerkow, who had received the puck from Cooper Toepper, sent a long pass down the left side to Kletti.  From outside the top of the left circle, Kletti rifled a wrist shot into the upper right corner of the net at 6:51 to give the Wildcats a 5-4 win, sending a happy crowd into the frosty winter night.

The Wildcats outshot the Tigers 49-48 for the game, and the shots were nearly even in each period.

Hibbing Chisholm 6, Chisago Lakes 2

The Wildcats headed north to play the fifth-ranked Hibbing/Chisholm Bluejackets in their final regular season game last Saturday, February 15 at the Hibbing City Memorial Building.  The Wildcats led 2-1 after the first period, but the Bluejackets scored five straight goals over the final two periods to beat the Wildcats 6-2.  The Bluejackets outshot the Wildcats 40-18 for the game.  Shots were fairly even in the first period, with Hibbing having a 13-10 edge.  But the Bluejackets dominated play in the final two periods, outshooting the Wildcats 27-8.

Max Bobrowski got the Wildcats on the board quickly, scoring just 41 seconds into the game, assisted by Jacob Kletti.  But Hibbing responded with a goal just 52 seconds later to tie the game at 1-1.  Max Koch, the Wildcats’ assist leader, scored a rare goal at 15:36 to give the Wildcats a 2-1 lead, with the assists going to Ben Kerkow and Colton Whiterabbit.   The Bluejackets tied it up just under three minutes into the second period.  The score stayed that way until late in the period, when penalty troubles late in the period led to two power play goals for Hibbing, and they led 4-2 after two periods.  The score stayed that way until late in the third period.  Hibbing scored to effectively put the game out of reach with just under three minutes remaining, an added another goal with 25 seconds remaining to make the final score 6-2.

Section Preview

The Section 4A coaches respected the Wildcats’ solid season and high QRF ranking as they voted, correctly, to award the Wildcats the number one seed in the Section 4A playoffs.  The Wildcats (14-9-2) opened the section tournament against the eighth-seeded Bloomington Kennedy Eagles (1-23-0) last evening at Aldrich Arena in Maplewood.  The Eagles were the second-worst team in the state in the QRF rankings, so for the rest of this preview it’s safe to assume the Wildcats crushed the Eagles and are on their way to the semifinals.  Note that all Section 4A games will be played at Aldrich Arena.

The Wildcats’ semifinal game will be at Aldrich on Tuesday, February 25 at 5 p.m.  The Wildcats will play the winner of the battle of the Spartans – the quarterfinal game between the St. Paul Academy Spartans (8-17-0) and the fifth-seeded Simley Spartans (11-14-0) .  The Wildcats did not play St. Paul Academy this season.  They played Simley on January 29 and won 6-4.  If the Wildcats play a solid game against either team, they should move on to the section finals.

The section final game will be on Thursday, February 27 at 7 p.m. at Aldrich.  Based on QRF rankings, it’s likely that the Wildcats will face the second-seeded Mahtomedi Zephyrs (8-15-2) in the section championship game.  Mahtomedi won the Section 4A championship last year and placed fourth in the state tournament.  And don’t let the Zephyrs’ record fool you.  While they have clearly taken a step back from last year’s state tournament team, they play a tough schedule and are still the Wildcats’ most formidable opponent in Section 4A.  But the Wildcats beat the Zephyrs 3-2 on January 28 at the Zephyrs home arena, and all three Wildcat goals came on the power play. Since the Wildcats would be designated the home team if they make it to the championship game, they will be able to match lines if they so choose.  That gives them a bit of an advantage, no matter who they play.

The Wildcats will need solid play across the board to make it to the third state tournament in team history.  That being said, their top scorers will need to continue to produce.  Junior Jacob Kletti (18 goals, 25 assists, 43 total points), senior Max Bobrowski (18, 22, 40), and the team’s top playmaker, junior Max Koch (5, 27, 32), will be counted on to lead the Wildcats through the section playoffs and – hopefully – beyond.  IF Bobrowski, who now has a 14-game points streak, and Kletti, who has a ten-game points streak, continue their points streak throughout the section playoffs, good things are in store for the Wildcats.  The other key for the Wildcats will be to get solid goaltending.  The stats of senior Brett Hanson and junior Corbin Shandley are similar.  Shandley would be considered the Wildcats’ 

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