The Athens Bobcats squirt squad made the long trek to Owensboro, KY this past Sunday to take on the Puck Hogs in BTHL play. Owensboro’s beautiful, brand new Edge Ice Arena was the venue for the pair of Sunday morning match-ups that saw the ‘Cats and the Hogs battling from the opening puck drop to the final buzzer. While the Athens team showed marked signs of improvement, they were unable to get over the hump on this day.
In the first game it appeared it would be the Bobcats day as they put the first tally on the board via the stick of Eli Kennedy on the rebound of a Chase Sammons shot. The Hogs evened things up late in the first and took the lead early in the second. The ‘Cats answered the call when Sammons scored a short- handed goal. But the Hogs responded less than a minute later to retake the lead. The Hogs scored once again before the ‘Cats answered when Sammons broke free for another goal. The Puck Hogs stretched out the lead by adding a couple of goals in the third while the ‘Cats were unable to answer. The final score was 6-3. Teagan Ries was strong in goal posting 14 saves.
The Bobcats got off to a sluggish start in the second game as the Hogs scored three in the first while the ‘Cats couldn’t find the scoring column. The Bobcats gave up another goal at the start of the second when the ‘Cats’ offense came to life. Sammons broke free for a goal to start the scoring. Storm Walburn scored a little later when he received a pass from Sammons from behind the net. Late in the period, Kennedy scored a power play goal from his defensive position as he received the drawn back puck off the Sammons face-off and shot from the blue line. Despite the offensive awakening, the ‘Cats could draw no closer in the period as the Hogs posted three more goals in the period. The ‘Cats did narrow the gap in the third by scoring three goals to the Hogs’ two goals. Garhett Kerns scored the first Bobcat goal in the third when he knocked in a rebound of a Sammons shot. Sammons completed a hat trick in the game by scoring the final two Bobcat goals. The final score 9-6. Nick Lutz was in goal for the ‘Cats and had 13 saves.
Next up the ‘Cats look to even the score when the very same Puck Hog team visits our barn this Sunday in a pair of morning contests at Bird Arena. The puck drops at 8:45 and 11:15.
Photo: Storm Walburn lines up for the opening face-off next to an Owenboro player.