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Chisago Lakes 6, Northern Lakes 0

Zoe Neurer had her third hat trick of the season and added an assist to lead the Wildcat to a 6-0 shutout over the Northern Lakes Lightning.   Lexi Smothers assisted on all three of Neurer’s goals. The game was played Tuesday, January 13 at Chisago Lakes Arena.

Aven Lyckholm scored an unassisted goal 11 minutes into the first period to give the Wildcats a 1-0 lead.  Neurer scored just 25 seconds into the second period, assisted by Lexi Smothers and Allie Smothers, to double the Wildcat lead to 2-0.  Brynn Secor added a goal four minutes later, with the assists going to Neurer and Naomi Eaton, to give the Wildcats a three-goal lead going into the third period.  The Wildcats put the game well out of reach with a three-goal burst in a span of less than three minutes starting at 6:34. Neurer scored the first two about a minute apart, with Lexi Smothers assisting on both goals.  And Eaton finished off the scoring for the evening, assisted by Audrina Kelley and Secor. The Wildcats outshot the Lighting 48-12 for the game, and Ava Aarnio stopped all 12 shots she faced for her fifth shutout of the season.

Chisago Lakes 5, Princeton/Big Lake/Becker 1

Zoe Neurer was involved in every Wildcat goal against the Princeton/Big Lake/Becker Tigers at Princeton First Bank & Trust Ice Arena on Thursday, January 15. She had two goals and three assists, and Naomi Eaton added two goals, to beat the Tigers 5-1. Lexi Smothers had three assists for the second game in a row. The Wildcats unloaded 60 shots at Tiger goalie Brynn Emmerich, and the Tigers managed just 14 shots for the game.  Goalie Julia Wakefield played her first full game of the season for the Wildcats and stopped 13 or 14 shots to pick up the win.

Neurer scored an unassisted goal just 12 seconds into the first period to give the Wildcats a lead they would never relinquish. Lexi Smothers added a goal midway through the period, assisted by Neurer and Aven Lyckholm, to give the Wildcats a 2-0 lead after one. Eaton scored her first power play goal midway through the second period, assisted by the usual suspects – Neurer and Smothers. Neurer scored two minutes later, with Smothers and Lily Raykowski picking up the assists. It was the first career point for Raykowski.  Eaton added another power play goal later in the period, again assisted by Neurer and Smothers, to give the Wildcats a 5-0 lead after two. Princeton broke up Wakefield’s bid for a shutout  shutout midway through the third period to make the final score 5-1.

Hockey Hullaballoo

The six assists in the last two games by Lexi Smothers raised her season total to 32, good for second place in the state.

The eleventh-ranked Wildcats (16-5-0) have just three games left in the regular season. They will welcome the Moose Lake Rebels to Chisago Lakes Arena today for a 3 p.m. matinee. On Saturday, Delano/Rockford will visit Lindstrom to face the Wildcats at 7:10 p.m.  And next Thursday, January 29, the Wildcats will end the regular season with a 6 p.m. home game against the Pine City Dragons.

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