Ohio Bobcats sweep the Cincinnati Bearcats with 5-3 and 11-0 wins.
The Ohio Bobcats had their second set of home games against the Cincinnati Bearcats.
In game one of the series, the Bobcats had an early power play in the first period, but the Bearcats' defense held strong against the Bobcat offense. Junior Nolan Abraham opened the scoring at 7:06 with assists from Will Cohen and Drake Nabozny. The Bearcats took another penalty shortly after, but the Bobcats were not able to capitalize on the power play. Captain Noah Holt closed out the first period with a goal assisted by Nolan Abraham and Drake Nabozny.
Starting the second period, Breydan Zupsansky scored an unassisted goal just over a minute in. Tension rose throughout the second period, and the Bearcats scored their first goal at 5:28. This led to a series of penalties during the second half of the period. The Bobcats struggled to dominate because of the number of penalties they were receiving. “We had plenty of chances to get the game under control, and we did the opposite. We gave them life and let them back into the game," said head coach Barry Schutte. With around 3 minutes remaining in the second period, the Bearcats scored a power-play goal to bring the score to 3-2 in favor of the Bobcats. Alex Thomas responded just a minute later, assisted by Brady Gilbert, to give the Bobcats a 4-2 lead after the second period.
Early in the third period, Cincinnati received a power play, but was unable to score. Halfway through the third period, Cincinnati got another power play and scored to make it 4-3. In the last couple of minutes of the period, the Bearcats pulled their goaltender in an attempt to tie the game. Will Cohen was able to score an empty-net goal to secure the win for the Bobcats.
“It's a new day tomorrow, and it's going to come down to our discipline and how we manage pucks,” said coach Schutte.
In game two of the series, the Bobcats showed up prepared and unwilling to let the night end like the previous one. The Bobcats tallied up their shots on goal quickly, leading to sophomore Brady Gilbert putting the first goal on the board. Rookie Gianni DiVita followed just nine seconds later, getting his first goal as a Bobcat, assisted by Kevin Kasper and Alex Mazzuca.
Will Cohen scored the third goal of the game around six minutes into the 3rd period. Nolan Abraham scored a power play goal assisted by Alex Thomas and Drake Nabozny to bring the score to 4-0. The Bobcats kept up their discipline and had no penalties during the second period, but the Bearcats had four penalties. Laker Aldridge closed out the second period with a power-play goal with assists from Noah Holt and Blake Dustin. The Bobcats dominated zone time through the first two periods and allowed the Bearcats only four shots on goal in both periods.
To start the third period, Breydan Zupsansky scored a power-play goal assisted by Alex Thomas and Will Cohen. Less than a minute later, Gianni DiVita scored his second goal as a Bobcat, making it 7-0. Barron Stibbe added to their lead with a goal assisted by Lance Mengel. Noah Holt and Blake Dustin assisted Alex Thomas in the ninth goal of the game. Lance Mengel and Breydan Zupsansky scored the final two goals of the game to bring the final score to 11-0. The Bobcats played an entirely different game than they had the previous night, and it showed. “Last night we went right where they wanted us and took a lot of penalties. Today we stuck to our game plan, stayed disciplined, and didn’t get frustrated. It was nice seeing everybody contribute today,” said Zupsansky.
Garrett Alderman acquired his second shutout of the season, and the Bobcats took the sweep for the weekend.
The Bobcats have their first set of away games this coming weekend against Maryville.