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by CHUCK FITZER

Chisago Lakes 3, 

South St. Paul 1

Goalie Ava Aarnio stopped 17 of the 18 shots she faced to lead the Wildcat girls’ hockey team to a 3-1 win over the South St. Paul Packers Tuesday, January 20 at Doug Woog Arena. The game was scoreless until Liberty Felton got the Packers on the board ten minutes into the third period. Zoe Neurer tied it up early in the third period for the Wildcats, assisted by Naomi Eaton. Lexi Smothers gave the Wildcats the lead at 10:11 of the final period, with the single assist going to Brynn Secor.  And Aven Lyckholm added some insurance with a goal two minutes later, with the assist going to Lexi Smothers, to make the final score 3-1.

Chisago Lakes 6, 

Delano/Rockford 0

Eighth-grade phenom Zoe Neurer thrilled the home crowd with four goals and playmaker Lexi Smothers had five assists to lead the Wildcats to a 6-0 win over Delano/Rockford last Saturday, January 24.  The Wildcats dominated the game from start to finish, outshooting their overmatched opponent 29-12 for the game. Goalie Ava Aarnio notched her sixth shutout of the season. It was Neurer’s fourth hat trick of the season

Neurer got the Wildcats on the board with a goal at 2:09 of the first period, assisted by Smothers. Aven Lyckholm scored on a power play about four minutes later to double the Wildcat lead to 2-0. Smothers and Brynn Secor assisted on that one. Neurer scored her second goal two minutes into the second period, with the assists going to Smothers and Audrina Kelley. Naomi Eaton made it 4-0 at 6:14 of the period, assisted by Sese Ritter. Neurer earned her hat trick with a goal just 22 seconds later, with the single assist going to Smothers.  And Neurer completed her four-goal night at 9:18 of the second period, assisted by Smothers and Brynn Secor. The third period was quick and uneventful. Since the Wildcats had a six-goal lead, there was running time the entire period. The clock stops only on goals and penalties during running time, but there were none of either as the game came to a swift and merciful conclusion.

Hockey Hullaballoo

Smothers commented on how the section looks heading into the playoffs, specifically discussing the Wildcats’ chances against the top-seeded and fourth-ranked Blake Bears if they meet in the section championship game.  He said “We match up pretty well with them. They are bigger and more physical than we are. We might even be the better team, but they have the girl who I think is the best goalie in the state and will get my vote for the Jori Jones Award, which is given to the top senior girls’ goaltender in the state.” Blake’s outstanding goalie is Janie McGawn, who is headed to Division 1 Dartmouth for college next season.

Lexi Smothers remained in second place in the state with 38 assists, just two behind leader Abby Foley of the Marshall Tigers. Zoe Neurer has at least on point in 20 of the Wildcats’ 23 games so far this season, and Smothers has at least one point in 19 games and has had three or more assists seven times.

The Wildcats (18-5-0) have either one or two games left in the regular season. They will host the Pine City Dragons tonight at Chisago Lakes Arena at 7 p.m. The Wildcats’ game with the Moose Lake Rebels scheduled for last Thursday was postponed due to the extreme cold, and Moose Lake could not find a date that worked for them for the reschedule. So, the Wildcats have been trying to find another opponent. It turns out that Pine City is willing to play the Wildcats again, and the game may take place tomorrow night. Check out Mississippi8.org to see when the added game will be played.

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