Bobcats still in the hunt after tying Wildcats

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Sylvania Northview hockey did Bowling Green a favor Saturday, but the Bobcats could not capitalize on it
Sunday.
Saturday, the Wildcats defeated Ohio’s No. 1 ranked team, defending state champion St. Francis, 1-0, at
Tam-O-Shanter in Sylvania.
However, on Sunday the Bobcats and Wildcats played to a 2-2 tie at BGSU’s Slater Family Ice Arena.
The No. 9-ranked Bobcats needed to defeat the Wildcats to share first place in the Northwest Hockey
Conference Red Division with St. Francis, but the tie keeps BG one point back.
St. Francis, which tied Cleveland St. Ignatius in voting for the No. 1 ranking in the state coaches’
poll, is 18-4-1 overall and 6-1 in the NHC Red. BG is 19-7-1 and 5-1-1.
BG hockey coach Connor Rogowski notes there is plenty of hockey remaining, including the showdown between
the Bobcats and Knights scheduled for Slater Arena at 1:30 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 13.
Rogowski is pleased that his Bobcats went 1-0-1 in league play against Northview this season. The
Wildcats, 10-14-3 and 3-4-1, have been a roll lately.
“Northview, in my opinion, is the hottest team in the state right now,” Rogowski said. “They’ve shut out
three of the top six teams in the state. We knew it was going to be a battle.”
Rogowski said the Bobcats were trying to respond after going 1-2 during the Cleveland Jesuit Tournament
in Strongsville last weekend.
“We were trying to get some positives coming off the last weekend, because we went in there and didn’t
play as well as we wanted to, so it was really important to come out today and set that tone again,”
Rogowski said.
“Versus a team (Northview) that is extremely hot, it is really hard to get in a team that is hot’s way,”
Rogowski continued. “We were able to do that.”
Northview outshot BG, 32-23, but all the scoring came in the second period.
Just 23 seconds into the second, Northview’s Trystan Harrell scored on a breakaway, assisted by
defenseman Landon Elliott, to put the Wildcats up 1-0.
BG sophomore defenseman Drake Joseph scored unassisted on a 30-foot shot from the right point, catching
the upper left corner of the net, to tie the score at 1-1 with 7:12 remaining in the second period.
Over the next two minutes, two BG penalties inside of a minute gave Northview a 5-on-3 opportunity, and
the Wildcats took advantage.
Five ‘Cats closed in on BG senior goaltender Gavin Sudlow as Benny Seals scored, assisted by Elliott and
forward Hayden Symbolik, to put the Wildcats back up, 2-1, with 5:29 left in the middle period.
Two minutes and 40 seconds later, BG’s offense closed in on Northview goalie Austin Nowak with a similar
result.
BG senior forward Luke Johnson scored, assisted by freshman forward Rhett Winger and senior forward
Brayden Clauson, to tie the game at two goals apiece.
Both of BG’s goals came when both teams had six skaters on the ice. BG had five power plays to take
advantage of, but the Bobcats had a hard time keeping the puck in the Wildcats’ zone.
“We’ve had some trouble in the power plays. It’s good once we get it into the zone. Once we get it into
the zone, we’re working it,” Rogowski said.
“But with a team that pressures you that much, it is hard to get something set up against a team like
that. I give them the credit — they are a real good team and a team that is going to be in it at the end
of the year.”
The third period Northview outshot BG, 9-7, but Rogowski felt the Bobcats had the momentum on their side
entering overtime.
“We were able to battle back down one goal two times. I thought we controlled that whole third period and
I thought that we were on top, and we were going to come out here and end the game,” Rogowski said.
“It was a game that was going to come down to a lucky bounce,” Rogowski added, but an opportunity for a
“lucky bounce” never happened.
An eight-minute overtime period began with each team having one player in the penalty box, but BGSU
officials ended the extra period after 2:06 was played because ice rental time expired.
After a late win over St. Francis the previous night, Northview coach Steve Elliott was OK with that.
“We’re good. It was a long weekend,” Elliott said. “We were down here Friday night for a late game at 8,
and then turned out to play the No. 1 team in the state last night.
“We got out of there with a lot of emotion, so I was proud of these guys to come out here and battle as
hard as they did.”

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