The Ice Cats are skating into a successful start to their season . . . and that’s not something we’re used to saying about Bobcat hockey.

The Beaver Area hockey team continued their first stretch of games these last two weeks. The Cats took on the Moon Area Tigers October 19. The Tigers have a large team, so the Bobcats knew going in that they would have to play hard to be competitive, especially with only 10 players on the bench.

Unfortunately, the Cats fell 6-3. Bobcat goals were scored by junior Trevor Schmidt, sophomore Danny Cogis, and senior Carson Cuddy with sophomore Jack Wilson getting an assist. Goalie Caleb Berardelli had 36 saves.

The next game for the Bobcats came against rival Blackhawk October 26—a rival made all the more potent as both teams claim Brady’s Run Ice Arena as home ice. There was plenty of excitement going into the game, and players knew the importance of the rivalry going in.

Both schools had large student section turnouts, with Beaver Area going for a whiteout theme and Blackhawk going for a pinkout theme. Tensions were high on both sides, with insults being traded back and forth between student sections and players the entire game.

Despite the excitement, the Bobcats lost 5-0. While the score doesn’t reflect it, Beaver Area fought hard every minute of the game. Berardelli racked up impressive saves and a small Bobcat team managed a decent amount of shots on goal. The game got physical very quickly with hits seemingly every minute of the game and both teams receiving penalty minutes for fighting.

The Ice Cats looked to bounce back in a game against Freeport the following Tuesday for a Halloween match-up. With matching 1-3 records, the Bobcats knew they had an opportunity to add one to the win column despite their decreasing numbers.

After a rough game that spilled into overtime, the Bobcats pulled away for a 2-1 victory. The regulation goal was scored by junior Trevor Schmidt assisted by freshman Evan Schmidt, and the overtime goal was scored by sophomore Roman Guido assisted by sophomore Gabe Forney.

These games improve the team’s record to 2-3, which is an exciting start for a team that had two wins total last season.

Schmidt said about the season, “I think we played really solid against Freeport. Our breakout and positional awareness looked way better than it did the past week. I look forward to what we can follow up with against Avonworth Thursday.”

Beaver Area’s next game was November 2 against Avonworth. Check the next edition of the ECHO for game details and results.