Playing in front of 1400 local students, the Lloydminster Bobcats were unable to send them home happy Wednesday morning at the second annual Fred North Foundation Hockey Hooky Day.
After winning the inaugural game last year 4-1 over the Sherwood Park Crusaders, the same could not be said this year, as the Cru thumped the Cats 8-3.
From the word ‘go’ the Crusaders made it a point to silence the Bobcat’s fans, and they did exactly that.
Outshooting the Cats early, the Cru eventually found the back of the net with just over six minutes remaining in the opening frame. A goal from Brett Wieschorster opened the flood gates for Sherwood Park, as they went on to score two more goals within in the next four minutes.
Just before the first intermission, Bobcat’s rookie forward Hunter Lamb had a pass deflect off his helmet into the Crusaders goal. Lamb’s fourth of the season trimmed the advantage to 3-1 after one period of play.
Unfortunately for the Cats, the script remained the same for the second period.
The Crusaders scored three straight goals to open the period, giving them a 6-1 lead.
In the late stages of the second, Carson Franklin deflected home his first goal of the season, which pulled the Cats within four.
Leading 6-2, the Crusaders continued to put the pressure on Lloydminster.
Two straight Sherwood Park goals put them up 8-2 before Zach Kaiser scored his fifth goal of the year in the final minute to round out the 8-3 score.
Bobcat’s goalie Cale Elder was pulled after surrendering a fifth goal early in the second period. Replacing him, Curtis Meger allowed three goals, as the Cru outshot the Cats 37-35.
On the power play, the Bobcats finished 0 for 4, while the Crusaders went 1 for 4.
Next up for the Cats is a trip to Fort McMurray. The Bobcats will battle the Oil Barons Friday night and Saturday night from the Casman Centre.