The Beaver Area ice hockey team sits at the middle of the standings nearing the end of the season, but their playoff hopes have not melted yet.

January 8, the Bobcats faced off against the Wheeling Park Patriots at Wesbanco Arena. After losing the previous two games, the Cats hoped to bounce back in an evenly matched game.

The scoring was traded back and forth throughout the three periods. After the second period, Beaver Area was down 3-1 with a goal coming from junior Zack Masters.

Senior Roman Dedominicis and sophomore Gabe Forney tied the game in the third period with goals of their own, sending the two teams to overtime. The game ended quickly, however, when a Patriot player scored a goal 29 seconds into the overtime period.

The next game for the Bobcats came shortly after the same week against the Richland varsity team January 11. At home this time, the Bobcats started off hot against the struggling 4-10 opponents.

In the first period, sophomore Roman Guido score first assisted by Forney. Things picked up quickly after that with Beaver Area scoring three more in the second with goals from senior Tanner Nicol, Forney, and Guido. Richland scored once in the second to make the game 4-1 heading into the third.

After a quick intermission and team meeting, the Cats finished the game strongly with four goals in the third period scored by senior Carson Cuddy, Guido, and two scored by Masters. Guido recorded his third hat trick of the season while senior goalie Berardelli saved 29 of 30 shots on goal.

Building off the momentum from the previous game, the Ice Cats next took on the formidable Avonworth Antelopes team, who at the time sat at second place in the Varsity A Blue standings. Avonworth started strongly with three goals scored in a row in the first.

Beaver Area didn’t give up, however, and quickly scored a goal at the end of the first and beginning of the second by Guido and Forney respectively. Avonworth answered back with two goals of their own to make the score 5-2 going into the third. Despite another goal from Forney, the Bobcats ended up losing the game 7-3.

Hoping for another reset, the Cats faced off against Hampton January 22. With only five games left in the season, the players knew every point counts if they hope to reach the playoffs for the first time in multiple seasons.

The scoring started early for the Bobcats with Masters scoring two and Guido tallying one in the first period. Beaver Area continued their dominance in the second with four goals scored by Nicol, Masters, and two from junior Trevor Schmidt.

Despite two goals from Hampton in the third, the Bobcats posted an impressive final score of 10-2 with third period tallies from Guido, Forney, and Cuddy. Masters recorded his first hat trick of the season.

Senior captain Carter Denelle believes in the future of the team this season, and it shows in how the team played against Hampton.

“We did really great in that game against Hampton. We’re looking for that playoff run, and if we keep playing like we did then, we’ll definitely get there,” Denelle said.

The Ice Cats’ next three games are away against Freeport, Westmont Hilltop, and Plum. The team’s senior night will be the final regulation game of the season at home February 22.