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Sauk Rapids-Rice, 3, CL 2

Elijah Fitch scored with ten seconds left in overtime to give the Sauk Rapids-Rice Storm a 3-2 win over the Wildcats Friday, January 30 at Sauk Rapids Sports Arena East, in a game that featured 96 shots between the two teams and some excellent goaltending by Wildcat goalie Jacob Schaeppi and Sauk Rapids goalie Chase Wheeler.

Bryden Pelvitz got the Storm on the scoreboard with 51 seconds left in the second period.  Jacob Kletti answered for the Wildcats just 22 seconds into the third  period, assisted by Colton Horak and Colton Whiterabbit, to tie the game at 1-1.  Kletti scored again nine minutes into the period to give the Wildcats a 2-1 lead, with the assists going to Whiterabbit and Austin Slettom. But Dominic Stucke scored just one minute later to tie the game at 2-2 and sending the game into overtime. The Wildcats led in shots 45-38 at that point.  But the Storm outshot the Wildcats 11-2 in overtime, so perhaps it was only fitting that Fitch scored with time running out for the Sauk Rapids sudden death win.

CL 7, South St Paul 4

Austin Slettom assisted on four of the Wildcat goals as they beat the South St. Paul Packers 7-4 Monday, February 2 at Chisago Lakes Arena. The fast-paced game featured over 90 shots on goal between the two teams, with the Wildcats outshooting the Packers 57-34.

The five goals in the first period came in a three-minute stretch.  Colton Horak scored the game’s first goal at 8:57, assisted by Max Koch and Slettom. South St. Paul tied it up a minute later, and the Wildcats responded a minute after that with a goal by Ashton Warnke, assisted by Quin Ryan and Carson Purdy, to go up 2-1. South St. Paul tied it again just 24 seconds later, but the Wildcats took the lead at 12:03 on a power play goal by Jacob Kletti, with the assists going to Colton Whiterabbit and Slettom.

The second period saw five goals bunched into a four-minute stretch, with the Wildcats scoring four times. Whiterabbit led things off three minutes into the period, assisted by Jacob Kletti and Slettom, to make it 4-2. But the Packers would not go quietly, scoring a power play goal a minute later to cut the Wildcat lead to 4-3.  Two minutes later, the Wildcats gave themselves some breathing room with two goals in a 30-second span. Max Koch scored short shorthanded, assisted by Whiterabbit and Kletti.  And Cooper Toepper put one in the back of the net to make it 6-3.  Slettom and Horak picked up the assists.  The Packers scored just after the eight-minute mark to pull back within two.  But at 11:05, Koch scored his second goal of the game, assisted by Carson Purdy and Horak, to make the score 7-4.  There were no goals and no penalties in the third period.

The Wildcats (13-6-3) dropped to 20th in the Class 1A rankings and have just three games to go in the regular season.  They will take on Minneapolis tonight at Parade Ice Garden at 7 p.m., and will play Pine City at home on Monday, February 9 at 7 p.m. They will finish up the regular season at home against the Hibbing/Chisholm Bluejackets next Thursday, February 12 at 7 p.m. at Chisago Lakes Arena.

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