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Chisago Lakes 3, Hutchinson 2

The Wildcat girls’ hockey team provided some excitement for the home fans in their return from the holiday Christmas break.  Brynn Secor scored at 3:56 of overtime to give the Wildcats a 3-2 win over the Hutchinson Tigers Tuesday, December 30 at Chisago Lakes Arena.  The Tigers outshot the Wildcats 30-24 for the game.  Wildcat goalie Ava Aarnio stopped 28 of the 30 shots she faced to get the win.

The Tigers took a 1-0 lead just four minutes into the first period.  But Zoe Neurer answered for the Wildcats just over a minute later, assisted by Sese Ritter, to tie the game at 1-1.  Hutchinson re-took the lead at the 11:27 mark.  Cam Hinsch tied it up again with just under three minutes to go in the period, with a single assist going to Lexi Smothers.  The game settled into a defensive battle after that, with neither team scoring until Neurer assisted on Secor’s overtime winner.

Chisago Lakes 5, Superior 2

In the Wildcats’ invasion of Cheeseland, junior Lexi Smothers led the way with four assists as the Wildcats beat the Superior Spartans 5-2 on Saturday, January 3 at Superior Ice Arena. Goalie Ava Aarnio provided another solid performance in the net, stopping 18 of the 20 shots she faced as the Wildcats outshot the Spartans 27-20 for the game.

Zoe Neurer scored a power play goal at 2:36 of the first period to give the Wildcats a 1-0 lead, with the assists going to Allie Smothers and Lexi Smothers.  Just 24 seconds later, Grace Schulte scored her first goal since the 2023-2024 season, assisted by Cam Hinsch and Sese Ritter, to double the Wildcat lead to 2-0.   Superior scored at 9:13 of the second period to cut the Wildcat lead to 2-1.  Exactly two minutes later, Allie Johnson scored to stretch the Wildcat lead back to two goals, assisted by Lexi Smothers and Naomi Eaton.  Brynn Secor made it 4-1 with a goal exactly two minutes later, with the assists going to Neurer and Lexi Smothers. Aven Lyckholm scored a power play goal at 3:13 of the third period, assisted by Neurer and Lexi Smothers, to make it 5-1.  The Spartans answered just 12 seconds later, cutting the Wildcat lead to 5-2.  But the Wildcats shut the Spartans down after that and came away with a 5-2 win. “We’ve struggled to play well on our coach bus trips,” said Wildcat head coach Peter Smothers.  “This was our fourth coach bus trip.  I changed things up and let the girls keep their phones the whole trip.  It seems to have worked!  We controlled the puck for over 29 out of 51 minutes in this game.”

Hockey Hullaballoo

The five assists Lexi Smothers tallied against Hutchinson and Superior give her 25 for the season, tying her for fourth in the state overall.

The 13th-ranked Wildcats (13-5-0) have just seven games left in the regular season.  They host the Anoka Tornados this afternoon at 4 p.m. at Chisago Lakes Arena.  And they will also be at home for a game on Tuesday, January 13, when the Northern Lakes Lightning come to Lindstrom for a 6 p.m. clash.

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