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Crosstown Cup

The Wildcat girls’ hockey team played in the Crosstown Cup, a post-Christmas tournament at the Breck School’s Anderson Ice Arena in Golden Valley, and faced some tough competition.  They matched up against Dodge County, the number one ranked Class A team in the state, and two Class AA teams – Wayzata and Rogers – and came away with a win and some valuable experience for their young squad.

Dodge County 5, Chisago Lakes 1

The Wildcats kept it close for two periods against the top-ranked Dodge County Wildcats, training just 2-1 as they headed into the third period, but Dodge County scored three times in the third to beat the Wildcats 5-1 on Thursday, December 26.

Chisago Lakes had just killed off an early penalty when they took another one at 4:26 of the first period.  30 seconds later, Dodge County scored a power play goal to go up 1-0.  Dodge County scored again midway through the period and led 2-0 after one.  Nora DeVries put one in the back of the net with just under three minutes to go in the second period, assisted by Lexi Smothers, to cut the Dodge County lead to 2-1.  But Dodge County, who outshot the Wildcats 38-17 for the game, scored twice in the first 90 seconds of the third period to increase their lead to three goals, giving Chisago Lakes a hill too steep to climb.  Dodge County added one more tally with 24 seconds left to make the final score 5-1.

Wayzata 6, Chisago Lakes 0

The next day, the Wayzata Trojans had 18 shots on goal in each period – outshooting the Wildcats 54-16 for the game – and shut out the Wildcats 6-0.  The Trojans scored twice in the first period, put the game out of reach with three goals in the second frame and added one more in the third.  They had two power play goals and a shorthanded goal and killed off all five power plays they faced as they sent the Wildcats down to defeat.

Chisago Lakes 3, Rogers 1

Goalie Evi Reedy played the best game of her career, stopping 47 of the 48 shots she faced, to lead the Wildcats to a 3-1 win over the Rogers Royals in the final game of the Crosstown Cup on Saturday, December 28.  The Royals outshot the Wildcats 14-12 in the first period and poured it on with a 34-16 edge in the final two periods, but Reedy stood firm.

Aven Lyckholm scored to get the Wildcats on the scoreboard at 3:16 of the first period, assisted by Nora DeVries and Lauren Schmidt.  The Royals tied it up at 3:17 of the second period.  Lexi Smothers scored to give the Wildcats a 2-1 lead at 8:03 of the second period, with the assists going to Kali Hanson and Brynn Secor.  Reedy and the Wildcat defense withstood a barrage of shots for the rest of the game, not getting any breathing room until Lyckholm scored an empty netter with 1:22 left in the third period to make the final score 3-1.

Hockey Hullaballoo

The Wildcat schedule doesn’t get any easier, as they will welcome Dodge County to Chisago Lakes Arena tomorrow night at 7 p.m. for a second go’round against the top team in the state.   And on Tuesday, January 7, they will head to Delano Area Sports Arena to take on Delano/Rockford at 7 p.m.

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