LHS-VHHS Icecats Blog

Penalties Kill Varsity Cats, Fall 3-2 to Conant October 24, 2009

Early penalty trouble did the varsity Cats in last Saturday night, as opponent Conant was able to convert three first period penalties (two of them overlapping) into two power play goals. The boys ended up suffered a 3-2 loss, their  first of the year.

Despite the early deficit, the Cats made a game of it. It didn’t help being down three key players. Senior defenseman Mike Lauber and forwards Justin Antolec and Tyler Shanholtzer were all unavailable. But the Cats have a deep bench, and they had plenty of chances to win the game. The Cats ended the night putting 28 shots on goal to 32 from Conant.

The Cats cut Conant’s lead to 2-1 midway through in the first period as Nick Young tallied on a goal crease scramble (a good lesson in playing until the whistle sounds). The Cats survived a scoreless second period and then, three minutes into the third period, tied it up on a sweet Tony Rossetti redirect of a Jeff Martin pass.

The tie didn’t last. With six minutes remaining, Conant found a soft spot in the defense and was able to lift a shot over goalie Max Laughlin, who was down and moving post to post. Laughlin had a solid night in net, making 29 saves. He got some help from defenseman Brad Feinman. In the second period, Feinman made a heads up sweep of a redirected puck just before it reached the goal line to help keep the game close.

The Cats kept up the pressure for the rest of the game. They were given some late power play chances of their own, but failed to convert.

So far, the Varsity Icecats are 2-1-1 with five points in the standings. They’ll have a shot at redemption when the meet Conant again on Sunday, Nov. 8.

The Varsity Cats next game in at 8:40 pm Thursday, October 29  vs. Cary Grove at the Crystal Lake Ice House.

BOX SCORE

Varsity Cats Tie PREP with Dramatic Penalty Shot October 17, 2009

The Icecats started the scoring early, at the 29 second mark, with a blast from the point by Matt Majewski, set up by Tommy Tambourine and Peter Henderson.  Seven minutes later it was the Cats again, with Jack Rieke scoring from in front of the net, on a pass from Matt Majewski.

Prep retaliated less than two minutes later with the first of four power play goals.  Connor Krukowski responded two minutes later with our own power play goal, assisted by Justin Antolec.  The 1st period ended with the Cats in control, 3 -1, with a significant shots-on-goal advantage.  However, the 2nd period belonged to Prep, which scored twice late in the period, both again on power plays, and the period ended in a tie, 3 – 3.

The 3rd period started off slowly.  At about the 3 minute mark, Prep was called for an interference penalty, but the Icecats were unable to capitalize.  Less that a minute after the Prep penalty, the Icecats were called for interference, not once but twice (the calls were separately by 16 seconds).  With a 5 on 3 advantage, Prep converted and they were now ahead 4 – 3.  The 3rd period saw the Cats outshoot Prep by 9 – 5, but it was not until a hooking penalty against Prep, that we had a shot that counted.  Justin Antolec was on a breakaway when he was taken down from behind by Prep.  The referee called a penalty shot and the players all skated to their benches.

The Prep goalie skated to his net first, and then Justin made his way to center ice.  The crowd was on their feet shouting encouraging Justin and the stage was set.  Justin started coming from the right, then was straight on the goalie.  He made a good feint to his left as if to make a shot and the goalie bought in to it, going down to his right.  However, Justin still had the puck on his stick and he skate to the right of the net as he flicked the puck in with a backhand shot.  The crowd went wild and Justin was mobbed by his team.  The final 90 seconds were almost all in the Prep zone, but the Cats were not able to bring the pressure to bear fruit and the game ended in a 4 – 4 tie.

BOX SCORE

Varsity Cats Make It Two in a Row with 4-3 Win Over Carmel October 11, 2009

The Varsity IceCats got off to another fast start Sunday night (October 11), taking a 3-1 lead into the second period following goals by Nick Young, Justin Antolec and Jeff Martin. Antolec, returning from a 3-game suspension, was a real presence on the ice, feeding Young for the first goal and walking in on a dish from Matt Majewski for the second. Martin’s tally, with an assist from Brad Feinman, made the game seem out of reach for Carmel going into the second.

Carmel didn’t give up. They came at the Cats with a flurry of shots in the second period, outshooting the cats 12 to 9. Goalie Erich Held, making his season debut, was solid, turning back all 12. Held ended the night with 21 saves, including some post to post beauties that kept the Cats in the game. The Cats threw 39 shots at Carmel’s goalie.

The Cats seemed to put the game away midway in the third when Ian Donnahoo stuffed home a rebound off Connor Krukowski’s shot, making the score 4-2. The Cats penchant for taking penalties, however, made the game closer than it needed to be. Two of Carmel’s three goals were on the power play. With just 1:34 left on the clock, the Cats took a head check penalty, which Carmel converted with just 12 seconds left on the clock, giving them a slim chance to tie it up. The Cats won the faceoff and held on to win the game.

The next Varsity Cats game is at 6:00 pm Saturday, October 17 vs. PREP at Glacier.

BOX SCORE

Varsity IceCats Start Strong with 8-1 Win Over Grayslake October 1, 2009

It was all but over just three minutes into the game. The varsity IceCats started their 2009-10 regular season Monday night with an offensive flurry against visiting Grayslake, scoring three unanswered goals in the game’s first three minutes. Successive goals by defenseman Brad Feinman and forwards Tyler Shanholtzer and Tommy Tambourine (his first of two) left the Ramquoits reeling.

Senior defenseman Mike Lauber buried a slap shot late in the first, taking the Cats into the second period with a 4-0 lead.

Other Cats tallying include Stephen Stanis, Joey Vandermey and Jack Rieke. Jeff Martin, Connor Krukowski, Greg Majewski, Peter Henderson, Feinman, Stanis and Tambourine were each credited with assists.

The Cats racked up 16 penalty minutes to Grayslake’s 10.

Grayslake managed to get on the board early in the second period, but that was it. Goalie Max Laughlin had a successful varsity debut, making 18 saves, including some nice point blank stops against the Grayslake power play unit late in the second period.

The varsity Cats’ next game is at 6:30 pm on Sunday, October 11, vs. Carmel at Glacier, following the JV Cats at 4:50 pm.

BOX SCORE