The Easton Chiller and Bird Arena were the two venues that saw the hard skating AYHA squirt squad this past weekend. The ‘Cats played the Easton Rangers during the late afternoon on Saturday and hosted the Bloomington Blades in BTHL play on Sunday morning. By weekend’s end, Athens was able to scratch out one more win for their record.
The first game of the weekend saw Athens put on an offensive display, putting 12 points on the board. The ‘Cats started early when Chase Sammons scored 35 second into the first on an unassisted goal. The Rangers answered immediately with a goal of their own. However, the Rangers could not keep pace as the ‘Cats scored six in the first to make the score 6-3. In the second period, the defensive combination of Finn Mitchell, Nicholas Barga, Nick Lutz, and Evan Adams started to gel. Meanwhile, Athens continued to stretch out the lead adding 5 goals in the second and one in the third. Offensively, Chase Sammons led the Bobcat charge with 7 goals and 2 assists. Eli Kennedy was a major contributor tallying a hat trick. Max Cook had a goal and an assist. Nicholas Barga had 3 assists, while Rhys Westenbarger added to the scoring parade with a goal. Anthony Koping was strong in goal making 10 saves. In the end, the ‘Cats came out on top 12-5.
Sunday morning, the Bobcats returned to Bird for some BTHL play against a very strong Bloomington Blades team. The first game was a hard fought contest that remained pretty even for the most part. The Blades struck first with 2 goals, while Athens tallied one. The Blades put two more on the board during the second, while the ‘Cats mustered another goal. In the third, the Blades slick skating and passing became too much for the Athens squad to handle. Bloomington outscored Athens 4-1 in the third. Final score 8-3. The Bobcats were led by Chase Sammons with a hat trick. Rhys Westenbarger chipped in with an assist. Teagan Ries was solid in goal with 23 saves for the ‘Cats.
In the second game of the morning, injuries and tired legs took their toll of the Athens squad. The well-oiled Bloomington Blades machine kept the Bobcats on the run for the entire game. The Blades dominated from the start and didn’t let up. In the end, the Bobcats could only scrape out one shot on goal. Final score 9-0. The highlight for the ‘Cats was the play of Teagan Ries in goal. Teagan made 25 saves on 34 shots and was constantly on alert the entire game.
The Bobcats return to action on December 19th when they travel to Newark to take on the Generals. The puck drops at 4:00.
Photo: Eli Kennedy fires a shot on goal while Max Cook looks for a rebound.