Bralin Technology Solutions Recap
By Shane Tomayer
With the AJHL schedule revised and ready to move forward the Bobcats found themselves facing the Camrose Kodiaks at home Saturday night instead of Sunday afternoon in the Rose City. When last the two teams faced off (January 31) it was a rollercoaster of a game that saw the Cats trailing 5-0 in the second period before rallying and finally losing 6-5. Game plan for the Bobcats coaching staff was to come out and dictate the play early. That’s exactly what they did.
It was just 1:42 into the first period when Lloydminster’s own Kade Fendelet put away his 10th of the season – surpassing the 9 goals scored in his rookie season (last year).
In the second Luke Fritz and Ben Aucoin would score their 6th and 21st (respectively) of the campaign to widen the lead. With Remy Spooner picking up an assist and extending his point streak to five games.
The Kodiaks did make their presence known late in the second period scoring off a battle in front of Jack Solomon with under 6 seconds to play.
In the third there were far fewer trips to the bench celebrating goals and far more trips across the ice to the penalty box. Between the two sides 34 minutes in penalties were handed out in the final frame as the Kodiaks battled to try and even the score.
While the Kodiaks pushed in the second period, the Bobcats held strong holding on to their two goal lead until Fritz cleared the Bobcats zone on a pass to Emmett Nordin who would find the empty Camrose goal with 2:00 left on the clock, for the second goal of his rookie campaign.
Solomon ended the game with 28 saves to record his 17th win of the season in another strong start.
Coach Brad Rihela was pleased with the result in a different sort of win for the Cats. “It was one of those weird games. Both teams struggled to get a lot of sustained momentum but good teams find a way to win ugly games and I feel like that’s what we did tonight.” He continued about the struggles the Bobcats saw at times, “I thought we were a little sloppy at times and put ourselves into some tough spots but Jack (Solomon) was obviously real good tonight. I thought we weathered the storm”.
Sitting just 3 points out of second in league standings the Bobcats next action comes Tuesday evening when they will board the bus and head to Whitecourt to face the AJHLs top team. On the season the Cats are 2-1 against the Wolverines having last faced them December 29 in a 5-3 loss. You can catch the action on Flo Hockey.
