Posted: 2/12/03

Girls hockey team nearly extends 7AA run

On paper, it seemed highly unlikely the Forest Lake girls hockey team would be able to make its fourth consecutive section championship game.

On the ice, though, the Rangers proved to be a tough out in the Section 7AA tournament last week, nearly pulling a major upset in the quarterfinals.

Chisago Lakes, the No. 1 seed in the south for the tournament, survived a major scare from the Rangers with a 1-0 victory in overtime on Thursday, Feb. 6.

It was the second win of the season for the Wildcats over the Rangers. In the first month of the season, Chisago Lakes defeated Forest Lake 2-1 at Maroon and Gold Arena.

In the section quarterfinals, however, the Wildcats had their work cut out for them to beat Forest Lake senior goalie Kelsie Bakken.

In fact, it took Chisago Lakes 45 shots on goal before finally getting one past Bakken and earning the win.

Bakken stopped all nine of Chisago Lakesí shots in the first period, 17 in the second period and 16 in the third to help the Rangers force overtime after a scoreless regulation.

Once in overtime, Chisago Lake finally got the game-winning goal at the 1:50 mark to advance to the section semifinals.

Chisago Lakes had 45 shots on goal in the game compared to just four for the Rangers.
In the first round of the tournament, Forest Lake upset No. 4 seed in the south Eveleth-Gilbert by a 2-1 margin.

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