Game Recap

Ice Prowlers home versus the Hilliard/Southwest Wildcats
@ The Chiller at Easton
Sunday, November 13th, 2005

PROWLERS BEAT HILLIARD ON THE SECOND TRY

The Prowlers started the young season 1-1-2. The win was a last second goal against Olentangy (10/30/2005). The two ties were hard fought battles with Westerville (11/06/2005) and Athens (11/11/2005). The one loss, that was to Hilliard (11/05/2005). It came on two late Wildcat third period goals after the Prowlers battled back from a two goal deficit in the third period. The Prowlers would love to have that game back. Fortunate for them, the schedule brought the two teams right back head-to-head just a week after the loss.

The Prowlers showed up with a different attitude for this match. They were ready to play. Another thing was different in their lineup too, junior Cody Berkebile. He hadn't been in the lineup this season other than the first five minutes of the season opener. He received a questionable game misconduct for a check from behind in that contest, served a one game suspension, then suffered an injury that sidelined him for the past two contests. He made his presence known tonight and often, finishing the night with 4 points (1G-3A).

The Prowlers came out of the gate flying and took the play to the Wildcats from the opening faceoff, but Matt Bridger remained steady in the Wildcat's goal throwing aside all of the Prowler shots in the early part of the game. At 10:59, his teammate Tim Applegett turned the tide when he threw the Wildcats first shot of the game past junior Justin Lohrman to give Hilliard a 1-0 lead. Chase Newcome made it 2-0 when he scored on the power play for Hilliard at 5:16 of the first, and despite the Prowlers strong play in the period, they were down by two goals.

This Prowler team has no quit though, only patience. The first goal came as the result of their first power play of the game, when freshman Ryan Straker scored his first goal in a Prowler uniform on the man advantage with 1:33 remaining in the first to bring the game within one goal. Despite a lopsided 13-3 shot count, the Prowlers ended the period down by a goal.

The second period was a different story though. Berkebile connected for his first goal of the season (assisted by sophomore Austin Zurbriggen) when he fired a shot upstairs on Bridger to tie the score up 2-2 just 25 seconds into the period. Berkebile then started a rush form his own zone which setup freshman Adam McGrath's second goal of the season (assisted by junior Nick Hess and Berkebile) just over five minutes into the period. A few minutes later, Berkebile made a perfect pass to Hess on the back post where he buried it for a power play goal to give the Prowlers a 4-2 lead. That is where it would remain after two periods of play.

The Wildcats struck back to start the third period when Newcome scored his second of the game on the power play, but it wasn't enough for the Wildcats on this night. Senior alternate captain Taylor Walcutt scored on the power play (assisted by Berkebile) and senior captain Ben French scored on a rebound with 8:49 remaining (assisted by freshman Brad Noskowiak and Zurbriggen) to round out the scoring and to give the Prowlers a 6-3 victory in their second meeting with the Wildcats.

The two teams see each other again next week when the Prowlers host the Wildcats again at 5:00 PM on Sunday (11/20/2005) at the Chiller at Easton. But first the Prowlers must get past the Westerville Warcats on Friday (11/18/2005) at 7:30 PM at the Chiller North. The Warcats sit two points ahead of the Prowlers in the standings (3-1-2, 8 PTS), but have played one more game. The last meeting between these teams was a week ago when they skated to a 5-5 tie (11/06/2005) in their first match of the season.

The Prowlers will then spend Thanksgiving weekend participating in the Midwest Thanksgiving High School Hockey Classic hosted by St. Charles Preparatory School. They will face Strongsville at 5:30PM on Friday (11/25/2005), then have Archbishop Moeller at 11:15 AM on Sunday (11/26/2005) and a rematch from last season's tournament with Marian (Mishawaka) at 9:30 PM. All of the Thanksgiving games will be held at the Chiller North.