Penalties Kill Varsity Cats, Fall 3-2 to Conant

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.

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