Only a few hours after arriving in Michigan Friday, the Bearcats travelled to Patterson Ice Arena to take on now 6-6 Davenport University at 8 p.m.  Despite the long trip, UC seemed primed to give number seven ranked Davenport a run for their money as the first period began.

UC took first blood, Steven Louie, assisted by team captain Mike Jagelewski, scoring at 17:20.  This would prove to be the only point for the Bearcats, and Davenport answered back with only 36 seconds remaining in the period, tieing the score at 1-1 going into the second period.

Starting center Alex Silvestros received a minor penalty for hooking, and a ten minute misconduct at 8:52 in the second, rendering him ineligible to play for the remainder of the period.

“[The penalty] was frustrating, for him and for us,” said starting goalie Ted Riolo, “It’s hard to get momentum going with your starting center in the box for 12 minutes.  It couldn’t have happened at a worse time.”

Riolo, it seems, was correct, as the game would remain deadlocked for less than a minute after Silvestros was put in the box.  At 7:54 Davenport scored on the power play against Riolo, and, a little over a minute later, they scored again.  Despite solid play in the first, Riolo was pulled in favor of rookie goalie Greg Geyer.

The line-up change wasn’t enough to stop the bleeding, however, and Davenport scored again at 3:08 and 1:13 and the Bearcats retired to the locker room for the second time trailing by 4.

The third period was no better for UC, Davenport scoring first at 18:47, taking the score to 6-1.  Within a five minute interval, Davenport racked up four more goals before UC got their feet under them and managed to prevent another point for nearly all the rest of the period.

At 49.8 remaining in play, the Davenport captain scored on Geyer, and a shoving match ensued, ending with the Davenport captain pinning the goalie to the ice.  Defenseman Jake Bonta stepped in to assist Geyer, and received a five-minute major penalty according to the ‘third man’ rule, as well as a game DQ.  Both Geyer and the Davenport captain received roughing minors.

Time expired, and the Bearcats left Patterson Ice Arena with an 11-1 loss.  Silvestros commented on the loss, saying, “It was a frustrating game.  In the first period, we held them.  Then they came out fired up.  It was an 11-1 game, but it shouldn’t have been.”  Riolo agreed, and added, “We just have to forget about tonight and move on.”

And move on they did.  Saturday night saw UC at The Edge ice arena, taking on the number one team in the ACHA D3 North Conference, the now 9-2 Hope College Flying Dutchmen.  Both teams were coming off loses the previous evening, the Bearcats from Davenport, and Hope from Saginaw State.

“We expected them to come out hard in the first,” said Riolo, “and they had the crowd behind them.”  The crowd itself was sizeble, nearly 300 strong, and for the first few minutes the extra support seemed to be working in Hope’s favor.

The game began on a sour note for UC, with Hope scoring on Riolo only 31 seconds into the start of play.  UC refused to lie down, however, and at 16:20 Jeremy Bougeois, assisted by Kyle Fitzpatrick, answered back, tieing the score at 1-1.

At 9:49, after several minutes of play in the Hope defensive zone, Arman Olgun, assisted by Jon Korst and Bougeois, scored, giving the Bearcats a 2-1 lead.  The rest of the period both teams were held scoreless, and UC entered the second period ahead by one goal.

The second proved to be a workout for goalie Riolo and the team’s defensive lines, as the entire first half of play took place almost exclusively in the UC defensive zone.  At 7:22 Hope managed to score, through traffic around the crease, to tie the score at 2-2.  Toward the end of the period, UC managed to push play back into their offensive zone, but retired to the locker room with the game still tied.

Upon their return to the ice, the teams resumed battle once more, play swinging from end to end with exciting frequency.  At 3:28 remaining, Riolo demonstrated just why he’s earned the starting goaltender’s position, making an incredible glove save, and preventing Hope from pulling ahead.  The final seconds of regulation ticked by, and, despite a four on four situation with only 1:19 remaining, the game progressed into sudden death overtime.

Going into the five minute overtime period, Coach Blaine Stoughton urged his team to “Play smart”.  The Bearcats took his advice, and despite icing the puck at 2:43 and bringing play back into their zone, UC managed to hold off Hope, sending the game into a second overtime five-man shootout.

UC’s first shooter, Jeremy Bougeois, had his shot turned away with a pad save by the Hope goaltender.  Hope’s first shooter managed to score on Riolo, through the five-hole, hitting the goalie as the shot went through.

“I got a piece of it.  My first reaction was ‘Did I save it?’  Then the pain kicked in.  I figured I played well all day: It hurt, but you play through it,” said Riolo.

After a few minutes of recovery time, the goaltender was back in the net, and the shootout continued.  Eric Fahrenkopf, UC’s second shooter, hit the cross bar of Hope’s net, his shot going wide.  Hope’s second shooter was denied by Riolo, and UC managed to stay alive, down by one goal after two rounds.

Alex Silvestros, coming off the previous evening’s misconduct penalty, managed to redeem himself with UC’s third shot, finding the net with a high, glove-side shot on the Hope goalie and tieing the shootout 1-1.  Riolo saved Hope’s third shot, making his second straight save.

UC’s forth shooter, Steven Louie, bounced his shot off the side of the net, and Riolo made a third save, denying Hope once more.

Alternate captain Ben Bailey took UC’s final turn, and his shot to the high, blocker-side blasted past the Hope netminder, giving UC a 2-1 lead in the shootout.

“I can’t deke, so I shot it.  I knew I was going in to try to get him moving,” said Bailey.

Hope’s final shooter was quickly turned away by Riolo, whose save gave UC the 3-2 victory.  Until Saturday’s game, Riolo was 0-3 lifetime in shootouts.  The senior goaltender stopped four straight shots to win the shootout, as well as 51 of 53 shots against in total.  Hope’s goalie stopped only 10 of 13.

Bonta, who did not play because of the previous night’s DQ, commented on the four year veteran’s performance, saying, “Ted [Riolo] was like a machine.”  Jarell Gillens, who was off the ice because of an injury in the Davenport game, agreed with Bonta, and further commented on his teammates, “We played unbelievable [...] We played up to the level of the team, and didn’t give up.”

Coach Blaine Stoughton was also singing the praises of his team as they walked off the ice, calling the victory the “Biggest win in the history of the franchise”, and pointing out that the team executed many of the “little things”  they’ve been working on in practice.  He also praised the impressive performance of both the defense and the goaltender.

“To sum it up in one sentence, these boys showed a lot of character and grit,” said Stoughton.

Jagelewski admitted the game was by far the biggest win of his four year stint with the Bearcats, and was also complementary of his fellow players, “The D[efense] played really well, solid.  But give all the credit to Ted, he really stood on his head to get the win.  Everyone was working as a team today.”

Silvestros, who broke a stick in the victory, added, “We knew how important the game was, and that they were number one.  I can’t think of a single shift when everyone wasn’t giving it their all.”

Saturday night’s win over Hope marks several major records for the Bearcats.  Hope College, ranked number one, is the highest ranked opponent UC has ever defeated, and the shootout, which went down to the fifth man, is the longest shootout for UC this season.

The victory also marks the breaking down of some geographical issues the Bearcats have suffered from in the past.  According to Riolo, the last time UC faced a Michigan team (with the exception of Davenport), they lost 13-3.

“We learned enough from Davenport to beat Hope,” Riolo said, and later added, “[The win] feels very good, especially the way we beat them.  It wasn’t a lucky bounce, or weird hop, we beat them as fair as you can beat a team.  It wasn’t a cheap win.  It proves that we’re not just a team that got lucky, we can compete with any team in the nation.”

Olgun, now in his forth year on the team, agreed with Riolo, “It’s a stride in the right direction for the team.  We need to keep the momentum going for the rest of the season.”

Momentum doesn’t seem to be a problem for UC, who were recently ranked 12th in the ACHA D3 North rankings.  This position makes UC the highest ranked team outside of Michigan, with Akron, the closest Ohio team, ranked 13th.  Saturday’s upset victory should only serve to help UC move up in the polls.

UC is quickly developing into a force to be reckoned with in the the North Division, currently forth in the league standings, only one point behind Hope College.  With the hardest games of the season now out of the way, it seems the Bearcats will only keep moving upward.

“If we come out and play like we did, not a lot of people can beat us,” said Bailey.

That will be put to the test on Friday night, as UC returns home to Sports Plus to take on EKU in a one game stand.  UC is 1-1 against EKU this season, having lost the last time the teams faced each other in October.  A full preview of the game will follow this week.

*Please visit the team’s facebook page for photos of this weekend’s series*

In their first major road trip since the ACHA Showcase in Roanoke, VA in early October, the Bearcats hope to pick up a pair of wins, and catapult their record to 13-3.  But it won’t be easy.

Though UC is coming off last weekend’s two game blowout of the University of Louisville, they are facing two of the toughest teams in the conference in nearly back to back games.

Davenport University, who the ‘Cats play Friday night, has lost five of their last seven games, winning only the last two matchups with 3-9 Lansing Community College.  Though the numbers don’t lie, in this case they seem to be a bit skewed, as Davenport has been playing a tough schedule thus far this season.  All of the teams they’ve lost to are ranked in the top five of their respective divisions, except Lansing CC, who is ranked tenth.

In current division standings, UC is fully five points ahead of Davenport, and the Bearcats are more than capable of knocking Davenport’s record down to 5-7.  If the ‘Cats come out playing hard the first period and minimize penalties, they should end up 12-3 by Saturday morning.

Saturday night, UC takes on number one ranked Hope college.  Hope has lost only one game this season, an upset loss to third ranked Grand Valley State University.  UC is only two points behind Hope in the North Division standings, however, and, if they maintain the high level of play they used against Louisville and Canisius, the Hope College fans may very well leave their rink disappointed.

Pucks drop this weekend at at 8:15 p.m. Friday at Davenport University , and 9:10 p.m. Saturday at Hope College.  Check back for the latest updates and photos from the games.

Friday night, UC hosted the now 0-7 Cardinals on home ice at Sports Plus.  The game got off to a quick start, the Bearcats picking up four goals in rapid succession in the first period.  Louisville recorded one against rookie goalie Greg Geyer, which would prove to be their only point of the entire game.

The second period saw the Bearcats dominate completely, keeping play almost exclusively in the Louisville defensive zone, and controlling the puck for nearly the entire period.  UC managed to pick up six more goals, raising the score to 10-1.

The third period was merely a more chippy repeat of the second, the Bearcats picking up four goals to end the game with a score of 14-1.  Alternate captain Ben Bailey explains the impressive victory, saying, “We came out fast in the first, forechecking and backchecking hard.”

Team captain Mike Jagelewski added to Bailey’s comments, “We never let up and played down to their level.  We played our game.”

Saturday night saw the Bearcats travel to Louisville for a late night game against the still smarting Cardinals.  Obviously upset by their sobering loss the previous evening, Louisville came out hitting hard and drawing numerous penalties.

Despite the decidedly rougher tone, the game was largely a repeat of the night before, UC scoring four goals in the first period, while Louisville recorded none.  Zac Nelson and Anthony Bodnarik each scored once, and Kyle Fitzpatrick scored twice, with Jagelewski, Bodnarik, and Steven Louie recorded assists.

The second period saw the Cards manage to get onto the scoreboard, slipping one past rookie goalie Benjamin Nieman at 5:34.  It would prove to be Louisville’s only point of the game.

Less than a minute later, Bailey, assisted by Nieman, scored, taking the score to 5-1.  This was Bailey’s second goal of the game, and the first of three assists picked up by the goaltender.  Mike Rehbaum and Tony Sarni also picked up goals, with assists from Fitzpatrick and Jon Korst, allowing UC to end the period with a 9-1 lead.

The third period started out slowly, until, at 16:14, Louie scored unassisted, raising the Bearcats goal count to an even 10.  Several minutes passed before Korst found the net for UC once more at 3:52, assisted by Jagelewski.  86 seconds later, Nieman picked up his second assist on a goal by Louie with 2:26 remaining in play.  At 1:25, Jarell Gillens recorded his only goal of the evening, assisted by Eric Fahrenkopf.

The Bearcats finished out the game with a goal by rookie Dan Ickes, assisted by Nieman, with 22.4 left in the third, bringing the final score to 14-1.  With the assist on the final goal, Nieman completed a playmaker, and clinched his first collegiate victory.  He expressed his feelings on the milestone, saying, “It feels really good.  The team helped me out a lot.”

Aside from adding two more tallies in UC’s victory column, this weekend’s series was a record setting one.  The 14-1 victory on Friday marked the most goals scored by the Bearcats in a single game this season, having previously scored 13 against NOVA in October at the ACHA Showcase. With Saturday’s repeat of a 14-1 win,  the series also holds the distinction of having the most total points scored by UC in a single weekend, 28.

Goalies Geyer and Nieman are tied for the second fewest goals allowed this season, behind Martin Paul’s shutout against Xavier, Geyer allowing only one goal on Friday, and Nieman allowing only one Saturday.  Nieman’s playmaker is the most assists by a UC goalie in a single game this season, and the series marks the fewest goals allowed , two, by the Bearcats this year.

Next weekend, the Bearcats travel to Michigan to take on Hope College and Davenport University on Friday and Saturday.  A full preview will follow this week.

*Pictures of this weekend’s games are posted on the team’s facebook site*

The Bearcats go into the all Big East conference match-up coming off a split series last weekend, beating IPFW on Saturday but losing to Canisius College the next morning.  By this Sunday afternoon, UC hopes to have raised their record to 11-3, putting them into the top quarter of the ACHA Division III North Conference.

“We’re hoping to play well this weekend and get back on the winning side of the scoresheet,” says senior goalie, and forth year player Ted Riolo.  Judging from the University of Louisville’s record, and that of the Bearcats against them, winning shouldn’t be too much of a problem for UC.

In the five games they’ve played this season, Louisville has given up a whopping 53 goals against, and managed to score only 23 themselves.  And, although this is the first time the two teams will face each other this season, the Bearcats have history behind them:  They are undefeated against the Cardinals lifetime.

Though all signs seem to point to two potentially easy UC victories, team captain Mike Jagelewski points out that the team can’t afford to get too cocky, “You always have to watch being overconfident.  We just have to take it to ‘em and don’t let up.”

Assuming the Bearcats can follow that advice, this series should be a victorious one for the team.  “We just have to keep up what we had going in the third period of [Sunday's] game,” says alternate captain Will Hunter.  Though UC lost that particular game, both the coaching staff and the players were pleased with the level of play.  The Bearcats dominated the third period, cutting down a three goal deficit to only one before running out of time.

Coach Blaine Stoughton offered further good news for the team, saying, “We’re hoping to have the full line-up back.  We’ve been pretty short in the bench.”  With all players active, including first year forward Steve Spaeth who was injured by an elbow to the head last Saturday, UC could prove unstoppable this weekend.

In addition to what should be an exciting game for UC fans, the Bearcats are hosting a post-game skate immediately following Friday night’s action.  Fans are invited to come skate with the Bearcats for free with admission to the game.  Skate rental will be offered at the discounted price of $2, but will be free for UC students with UCID.

The Bearcats encourage everyone to come out and cheer the team to victory in the biggest game of the season, and to join them on the ice afterward.  Friday night, the puck drops at 7:30 p.m. at Sports Plus in Evendale.  Tickets to the game will be $7 for adults, $5 for non-UC students, and $3 for children.  UC students and staff will be admitted free with UCID.  Saturday’s game will be held at the Iceland Sports Complex in Louisville at 7 p.m.

Saturday night, UC beat IPFW 5-4 in a game that progressed into sudden death overtime.  Despite a slow start, the Bearcats managed to shape up and pull out the victory over their Indiana neighbors in the hard fought battle.

IPFW came out playing hard, taking the lead 2-0 early in the first period.  In a effort to change the tone of the game, Coach Blaine Stoughton replaced rookie goalie Benjamin Nieman at 13:58 with forth year netminder Ted RIolo.  In spite of the switch, IPFW scored again at 10:08, bringing the score to 3-0.

At 8:13 UC finally answered back, Arman Olgun scoring with assists from Jarell Gillens and Michael Rehbaum.  IPFW was unable to hold off the Bearcats, and at 6:14 Alex Silvestros scored his first goal of the night, assisted by team captain Mike Jagelewski.  The rest of the period would remain scoreless, and UC would go to the locker room trailing by one.

Only 39 seconds into the second period, with UC on the power play, Silvestros scored his second of the evening, assisted by Jeremy Swihart and alternate captain Ben Bailey, tieing the game at 3-3.

Despite the back to back UC goals, IPFW refused to give in, and less than 2 minutes later, while on the power play, they managed to slip one past the goaltender, taking the lead once more.

At 11:34 alternate captain Will Hunter, assisted by Olgun, scored, tying the game for the second time.  Each team managed to hold the other scoreless for the rest of the period, and they entered the third period in a dead heat.

Nearly halfway through the third, Olgun, assisted by Bailey and Swihart, capitalized on a power play opportunity, giving UC the lead with 10:44 left to play.  The Bearcats’ defense managed to hold off their opponents until, with only 3:44 remaining, IPFW scored to time the game once more, 5-5.  Regulation time expired with both teams holding each other off, and the game went into sudden death overtime.

Only 23 seconds into the overtime period, Alex Silvestros scored unassisted, completing a hat trick, and giving UC the 6-5 victory.  IPFW chose not to lose gracefully, however,  both their head coach and assistant coach receiving game misconduct penalties.

Despite the coaching staff’s actions, UC goalie Ted Riolo expressed his respect for the team, saying, “We never played them before, but they’re in the top three:  They’re definitely the hardest forechecking team we’ve played all year.”  Riolo went on to comment on UC’s play throughout the contest, saying, “The D[efense] made a few mistakes at the beginning that cost us those early goals, but towards the end they really figured out [IPFW's] offensive system.”

Sunday morning, the Bearcats took on Canisius College, hoping to utilize their home ice advantage to beat “one of the toughest teams [they] play.”

The game once again got off to a slow start for UC, Canisius scoring first at 18:57 and again at 11:55.  Finally, at 2:39 in the first, UC’s Kyle Fitzpatrick, assisted by second year forward Tony Sarni and Hunter, managed to put the Bearcats on the scoreboard, and sent UC into the next period only trailing by one.

The second period, however, belonged solely to Canisius, who scored twice and managed to prevent UC from recording a single goal.  In an effort to change the momentum of the game, Coach Stoughton pulled starting goalie Riolo in favor of Rookie Greg Geyer.  He managed to hold his own, and kept Canisius from adding to their lead for the period’s remaining minutes.

As went the second to Canisius, so wnet the third to UC.  Canisius scored one goal early in the period, but were then held scoreless for the remainder of the game.

At 13:57 Olgun, assisted by Swihart and Jeremy Bougeois, cut the Canisius lead down to 5-2.  Some eight minutes later, Fitzpatrick, assisted by Hunter, made the score 5-3.  With only 1:35 remaining in regulation, Silvestros, assisted by Fitzpatrick, made it a one goal game.  The clock, however, beat the Bearcats, and they lost the battle 5-4.

Despite the loss, there is a significant bright side.  UC drastically cut their penalty count from last Sunday’s game, serving time for only four penalties versus last weekend’s 13.  Coach Stoughton called Canisius a “better skilled team” but still had only good things to say about the Bearcats.  “I give our guys credit, they played very well.  I’m proud of them.”  The coach continued to call it an overall good weekend on the ice.

The team seemed likewise unperturbed by the loss, coming out only more determined to win the next game.  “In the first period we were flat,” said alternate captain Ben Bailey, “We just have to figure out how to play in the first.”

Though fatigue played a factor in last weekend’s marathon of three back to back games, captain Mike Jagelewski said it wasn’t such a pressing issue this time, though it was there.  “We had a short bench, so you were out there every other shift.”  Coach Stoughton said he expects to solve the short bench problem, planning for the full roster to be active for this weekend’s series against Louisville.

The Bearcats will face off against the Cardinals two straight nights, in what will be some of the biggest games of the season.  Friday evening’s game will be played on home ice at Sports Plus, but on Saturday the Bearcats will break their eight game home stand and travel to Louisville to finish out the series.  A full preview will follow this week.

*Photos of this weekend’s games are available on the team’s facebook page.*

This weekend marks the first and only time UC will see either of these teams this season. 

Coming off a weekend of mixed results, the team is hoping to pick up a pair of wins to bring their record on the season to 10-2.  In last weekend’s loss to EKU and two game sweep of MTSU, UC recorded two playmakers and 19 goals, along with more than 40 minutes in penalties. 

Saturday night, at 7 p.m., the Bearcats take the ice against the 2-2 University of Indiana-Purdue at Fort Wayne Mastodons, who are coming off two straight losses.  The Mastodons were forced to forfeit their last game against Oakland University in the last 41 seconds of the third as a result of a spearing penalty and game misconduct against the team’s only goalie.  UC, with two successive wins behind them, once again go into the weekend with momentum in their favor.

At 9:30 Sunday morning, the Bearcats take on Canisius College, and hope to avoid the early-morning lethargy and fatigue from back to back games the team suffered from last weekend.  According to team captain Mike Jagelewski, the short turn over between stints on the ice was a huge contributor to the penalty count against the team last weekend.  With only two games to play in this series, the shortened weekend should minimize fatigue, as well as the penalty calls against the Bearcats.

Both games this weekend will be played on home ice, at Sports Plus in Evendale.  Tickets are $7 for adults, $5 for non-UC students, and $3 for children.  UC students and staff are free with UCID.  The team invites everyone to come out, enjoy the game, and support UC against IPFW and Canisius this weekend.

Friday night, UC lost 8-5 to an EKU whom they’ve beaten twice to begin the season in September.  The loss came as a surprise to fans given UC’s previous performance against the Colonials.

Coach Blaine Stoughton says a combination of overconfidence on UC’s part and the stellar performance of EKU’s goaltender were to blame for the loss.  “It was a closer game than the score indicated,” says Stoughton, “In the first period, from crease to crease, it was pretty even.”  Even so, by the end of the period, the Bearcats were down 2-0.

Halfway through the second, UC trailing 5-1, Coach Stougton pulled fourth year goalie Ted Riolo for rookie Greg Geyer, hoping to change the momentum of the game.  Results were mixed, and the Bearcats entered the third down by four.

The final period saw UC’s tempers get the best of them, drawing six of their eight total penalties in that period.  Alex “Sly” Silvestros received a five-minute major penalty and a game misconduct for checking from behind at 19:46, and was ejected from the game.

But that was only the beginning of the Bearcats’ breakdown.

At 12:56, a scuffle ensued as a result of a UC play in the EKU defensive zone.  What began as pushing and shoving dissolved into punches being thrown, and officials quickly stepped in to break it up.  Alternate captain Will Hunter was given two minutes for roughing, and first year forward Kyle Fitzpatrick received both a roughing penalty and a DQ for fighting.  An EKU player also recieved a DQ, and both were ejected from play.

“We were down four goals, I was doing whatever it took to get one in,” says Fitzpatrick, of the altercation which began after he contacted the EKU goalie.

Despite goals by Jarell Gillens, Jeremy Bougeois, Jon Korst,  two by Stephen Spaeth, and a playmaker by Hunter, the end of the period saw EKU rack up a total of eight goals and 13 penalties.  UC scored five goals with only eight penalties, but the nature of the offenses caused the Bearcats to end up spending more time in the penalty box than their opponents.

“EKU played better than they ever have,” says Riolo, “And we came out flat.  We had a lot of chances we didn’t capitalize on.”  And it seems the failure to utilize the power play situations cost UC the game, dropping their record to 6-2 on the season.

Saturday and Sunday brought out-of-state opponents MTSU to the Bearcats’ home ice for a two game series, the first time these two have faced each other this season.  Going into the series, UC was 0-2 against MTSU in the past four years.

In the first game of the series, MTSU got off to an early lead, ahead 4-0 by the end of the first.  “They came out hard and scored early.  We started flat like Friday night, like we were still playing the same game,” says Riolo, who did not play.  Starting goaltender Martin Paul elaborated, saying the team gave up several easy goals in the first.

The team made the necessary adjustments in the second and by the end of the period the Bearcat’s had a one goal lead over MTSU.

The thrid period, which Paul describes as “pretty chippy”, went largely in the Bearcats’ favor, and UC managed to take the lead, driving the score to 8-5.  Alex Silvestros managed to score a hat trick and a spare for a total of four goals on the night.

In the final seconds of the game, a hit thrown by rookie defenseman Jake Bonta, which resulted in a possibly broken jaw for MTSU’s captain, caused already hot tempers to boil over and a minor scuffle ensued.  The Bearcats still pulled out a victory, defeating MTSU 8-5.

Sunday’s early morning game was a renewal of hostilities between the two rivals.  The game started out rough, each team earning three penalties in the first twenty minutes of play.  At the end of the first, UC led 3-0, with one goal each for Hunter, newcomer Steve Louie, and Gillens.  Hunter, team captain Mike “Jags” Jagelewski, Tony Sarni, and Louie all picked up one assist, while alternate captain Ben “Cash” Bailey picked up two.

The second period was relatively low-scoring, each team recording only one goal.  UC’s shot was made by Stephen Spaeth, assisted by Silvestros and Bailey, who completed the Bearcats’ second playmaker of the weekend.

Penalties in the second, however, were a different story, UC spending fully half the period on the penalty kill.  At 1:35 Silvestros was called for hooking and began a streak of eight back to back penalties against the Bearcats.  Jagelewski and Bailey were both called for sets of two successive penalties.

“They were trying to get in our heads, and they did it,” says Bailey, who recieved a total of four minutes for roughing and subsequent unsportsman-like conduct at 31.3.  Silvestros did his share to add to the penalty count, matching the previous game’s four goals with as many penalties Sunday, spending eight total minutes in the sin bin.  Overall, UC spent 26 minutes in the box, more than a third of the game.  MTSU spent only 14.

Silvestros cited fatigue as a big part of UC’s problems on Sunday morning, and both Jagelewski and Riolo agreed.  “We were on the ice within 10 hours of being there before,” says Jags, and Riolo adds, “Three games in three days is tough.  We were emotional last night, and it carried over into today.”

In spite of those emotions causing numerous penalties, and UC giving up three power play goals over the course of the game, the team managed to pull out a 6-5 victory, Kyle Fitzpatrick scoring unassisted, and Tony Sarni, assisted by Michael Rehbaum and Gillens, in the third.  The Bearcats’ emerge from this weekend’s play with a record of 8-2 on the season, and a 2-2 record versus MTSU lifetime.

Although the team came out of the weekend victorious, Coach Stoughton says there’s still work to be done.  “Defensively, we’re not playing very well at all.”  He continued that the team needs to pay “attention to detail” in their own zone, and stop taking “stupid penalties” which can tire out the defense.  Offensively, the coach was pleased, saying “We’re scoring enough goals.”

The Bearcats have a few days to work on their game, not playing again until November 1st when they take on IPFW at Sports Plus.  A full preview of that game will follow this week.