The Northview Wildcats shot at a league crown took a blow over the past 2 weekends as a couple of 1-goal losses mixed with 3 wins leaves them in a fight for 2nd place heading into the final 2 weekends.
Last weekend the Cats pushed their win streak to 7 in a row to start the new year with a 5-1 win over BG and a 4 to 1 win over Anthony Wayne. On Friday Sophomore Landon Elliott picked up an early 1st period goal and Cam Horvath and Benny Seals pushed the lead to 3-0 halfway through the opening period as Northview looked poised to run away with an easy win. Bowling Green fought hard however and closed to 3-1 midway through the 2nd period. The Cats regained the momentum with 2 goals just minutes apart in the 3rd to seal the win. David Crandall scored and Trystan Harrell added an insurance goal in the 5-1 final. Junior Josh Bisson continued to rack up assist with 3 on the night and Senior Netminder Tyler Clem picked up the win.
Saturday evening the Cats gave up an early goal before scoring 4 unanswered to skate away with a 4 to 1 win. Junior Mikey Burton’s career 1st got the Cats going and Crandall scored in the final minute of the 1st for the eventual game-winner. Senior Griffin Muir and a 2nd from Crandall finished off the Generals in the 2nd period for the final margin. Austin Nowak had to make just 10 saves to pick up the win in net.
A makeup game with Findlay down at the Cube was the last test on Sunday. Though the Cats outshot Findlay by a wide margin their inability to finish and some undisciplined play in crucial areas of the ice led to a disappointing 4 to 3 OT loss. Benny Seals traded 1st period goals and Riley Ames and Crandall scored to bring the Cats back from a 3 to 1 deficit to send the game into OT. However, a crossbar and a few other close opportunities wouldn’t find the back of the net and Findlay hit the game winner with just over 2 minutes remaining in the extra frame.
This past weekend the Cats returned to NHC league play with a pair of games. Perrysburg was up 1st on Friday and gave the Cats all they wanted. Sophomore Trystan Harrell kept up his strong play with a pair of goals and linemate Camren Horvath added the game winner in a 3-2 win. Senior Netminder Tyler Clem rebounded after the tough loss in Findlay to play strong in net with 24 saves.
The Cats finished off the weekend with a showdown with #2 state ranked St. Francis. The #5 ranked Cats would need a win for any chance of a league title. Unfortunately for the Cats some early penalty trouble helped the Knights grab momentum with a 5 on 3 goal. A mix up on a line change near the end of 1 pushed the lead to 2 to 0. The Knights then made it 3 to 0 early in the 3rd and looked to be in full control. However despite the score the Cats were playing well and wouldn’t go away without a fight. David Crandall and fellow senior Cam Horvath scored to pull the Cats to within a goal as Northview outshot the Frannies 12-3 in the final frame. Northview pressed but were unable to hit the tying goal after numerous close calls as the suffered the close 3 to 2 loss.
The Cats have 3 league games remaining and an out of conference trip to St. Ignatius in the final 2 weekends of regular season play. They will look to get back into the win column this coming weekend with a game vs St. John’s Friday evening before hosting Findlay Saturday afternoon on Senior night.
Good Luck Cats!!!
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