Cincinnati, Ohio - The Athens Varsity
Bobcats, seeded 5th in this weekend's BTHL Tournament, upset the 1st
seed, Louisville Stallions and finished 2nd overall! Bobcats
defeated Cleveland Lumberjacks and lost in the championship game to
Dayton Bombers.
Bobcats faced #4 seed, Cleveland Lumberjacks
for their first appearance of the tournament. The Bobcats came
out to play as they scored 4 unanswered goals to quickly build a
comfortable lead going into the third period. The 'Cats held off a
late third period challenge from the Jacks as they scored 3 goals in
five minutes of play. The "Bobbed-Tailed Cats"
prevailed winning 4-3 with a pair of goals from Kevin Deal, the
remaining goals scored by Nick Fischer and Joel Chalfant with assists
from Pierce Reeves, Jake Schriner & Kyle "College Boy"
Dean. Goalie, Jake Bloomfield, notched 22 saves.
Photo: Athens Varsity Bobcats take 2nd Place in BTHL Tournament Entering round 2 of the BTHL tourney, the Bobcats were considered the underdogs as they faced regular season champs, Louisville Stallions. After two hard fought periods of play, the game was tied at 2 each with the Athens goals from Seniors, Kyle Dean and Alex Gates. As the third period began, the 'Cats pulled out their saddles and strapped on their spurs to ride the Stallions all the way to the championship game with 3 more goals from Tanner Wood and Kevin Deal with another pair to win the game 5-2. Defenseman, Jake Schriner, Wes Gilkey, Joel Chalfant, Andrew Newton and Kyle Dean backed up net-minder Alex Monterosso with his outstanding 27 saves. Tyler White, Kevin Deal, Andrew Newton, Alex Gates , Henry Smith and Dean racked up assists.
Athens donned their black jerseys for the third time and looked for the charm as they faced Dayton Bombers in the championship game. The 'Cats gave it their all but came up short in the end with a 3-0 deficit earning them 2nd place overall.
The Bobcats travel to Columbus next week for the Blue Jackets Cup Tournament in the Greater Columbus High School Club Hockey League. Athens finished in 3rd place in GCHSCHL regular season point standings which garners them a position to compete for the State Title slated for March in Cincinnati.