Bearcats Defeat Muskies, 6-2
The Bearcats increased their record to 13-4 this weekend, after a 6-2 victory Saturday afternoon overcrosstown rivals Xavier. The win, UC’s third over XU this season, has helped to catapult UC into the third slot in North D3 standings, leaving them only one point behind number two Hope College.
Saturday’s game got off to an uneventful start, neither team scoring until 1:36 remained in play, when UC’s Michael Mercer, assisted by Jon Korst, found the net behind the Xavier goalie to give the Bearcats a 1-0 lead heading into the second period.
A few minutes later, at 12:35 in the second, Xavier answered back, slipping the first of their two goals past UC netminder Martin Paul, and tying the score at 1-1. Some eight minutes later, despite being in the midst of a six penalty streak which would last the remainder of the game, alternate captain Ben Bailey, assisted by second-year forward Tony Sarni, scored, giving UC the lead once more.
The third period would go much the same was as the second, largely dominated by the Bearcats despite numerous power play opportunities for the Muskies. At 17:02, center Alex Silvestros, assisted by fellow forward Jeremy Bougeois and defenseman Anthony Bodnarik, tipped in a shot, taking the score to 3-1 in favor of the Bearcats.
As expected between the two bitter rivals, play became increasingly chippy as the third progressed, but despite some pushing and shoving, forward Michael Rehbaum, assisted by Jake Bonta, scored against the XU netminder once more, at 11:55. Less than 20 seconds later, Jarell Gillens, assisted by Korst, added yet another point to the scoreboard.
At 8:58 left to play, XU picked up the only power play goal of the afternoon, slipping the puck past both the UC defense and goaltender, cutting the Bearcats’ lead to only three points. UC answered back some four minutes later, at 4:23, when Silvestros, assisted by Bougeois recorded his second goal of the game.
Time expired without change to the score, and the Bearcats emerged from the afternoon victorious, 6-2. UC is unbeaten against Xavier this season, but still have a final two game series against the Musketeers in early January.
Winning goaltender Martin Paul, who in his last game against Xavier recorded a 6-0 shutout, said of the game, “It’s always feels good to get a win, especially going into the break.” Paul hasn’t seen much playing time since the previous Xavier victory, and went into Saturday’s game with totally new equipment, which he feels affected his play. He faced 23 shots, turning away 21, and despite allowing two goals, he called the win an “all around good game.”
Coach Blaine Stoughton agreed with the goalie, praising the team’s overall performance in the face of an uneventful first twenty. “The team kept their composure, they didn’t get frustrated. We were out-playing [XU], but not scoring. We’re not a high-scoring team, we win close victories.”
Though they may not be a high-scoring team, the goals the Bearcats do score, coupled with strong defensive play and goaltending, have been enough to defeat even the most challenging of opponents. Still charged from their recent victory over No. 1 Hope College, the victory over Xavier only served to add more fuel to the Bearcats’ fire.
“We’re working hard,” says Silvestros, “The team’s running on all cylinders.” Rookie forward Adam Dahl added, “We were geared up, we came out skating faster, and we were more prepared.”
UC goes into December with only one game remaining before the Christmas break. Veteran player and former team captain Zac Nelson will leave the team over the break, joining a Serve Beyond Cincinnati trip to Africa for the remainder of the season.
After a weekend off for the Thanksgiving holiday, the Bearcats hit the road and travel to Fort Wayne to take on IPFW once more, on their home ice. The last time the teams met, in the beginning of November, UC won, 6-5. A full preview of the game will follow in the next week.
*Please visit the team’s facebook site for photos of this weekend’s game*
