Blackhawk Cougars Hockey Game Recap for 12/19/13

By: HSSN Staff
Monday, December 23, 2013 | 3:26 PM

At the Beaver County Ice Arena on Thursday December 19th the Blackhawk Cougars and Beaver Bobcats, two bitter rivals met, and by the end it was another rock em sock em back and forth battle this time won by the Cougars in come from behind fashion 5-4.

Both teams came into the game with identical 6-4 records, and the Bobcats had won the previous meeting on November 21st in come from behind fashion by a 6-5 score. Every time these teams play its wild, entertaining, frustrating, and just a great game to watch.

The neighboring school districts players have grown up playing various sports against each other and many currently play on a traveling Beaver County team with each other. Before the game and in between periods there was friendly banter, but during play it was rough. Numerous hard legal hits, a lot of talk back and forth, and a fierce battle the whole game for bragging rights was at hand.

The start of the first period was all Blackhawk as they dominated play early. Defensively they were responsible and stopped the Bobcats early. The Cougars would get the first two goals. At 2:37 Nathan Lundy scored his 7th on the year on a floater from the point to make it 1-0. At 11:55 Robbie Swinderman netted his 12th to make it 2-0. After a scrum in front he found a loose puck and it was  a 2 goal lead. Beaver would get on the board late at 13:11 as they came on strong near the end of the first frame. Antoni Chirgot scored his 5th on the year and it was 2-1 at the end of one period. Beaver out shot the Cougars 11-7 in the first period.

Cory Steinle was in goal fro the Cougars. A change from the first game as he has taken over the number one spot from Grant Rombold. Coach David Stuber told MSA Sports that he liked what Steinle had done on JV, and needed Rombold and his gritty game on the forward first line to spur the offense. Steinle made a handful of brilliant saves. Thru out the game he mad 5 glove saves, many during the clutch. Steinle entered the contest with a 1.33 goals against average, and .929 save percentage.

Into the second period the Cougars Nathan Lundy would score on a slap shot from the point on a rush at 1:33 to get back the 2 goal lead at 3-1. It was his 2nd of the game and 8th of the year.The game would stay this way for most of the 2nd frame as Blackhawk would play great defense and hold off Beaver. However they neglected to play any offense and shots on goal and any offensive prowess would slow and the Bobcats would come on strong. Beaver would get a goal at 12:21 by Ryan Hartman and it was 3-2 at the end of 2 periods. Beaver again out shot the Cougars this time 12-8 for a two period total of 23-15.

Into the third period Beaver was flying and Hartman would score twice more, once at :38 in, and another at 8:00 in to take a 4-3 lead.. The Bobcats took advantage of Cougar defensive errors and Blackhawk went half the period without a shot on goal. Hartman, Chirgot and Noah Shultz factored in on every Bobcat goal with Hartman having 3 goals and an assist, Chirgot 1 goal and 3 assists, and Schultz with 4 assists. After the stunning turn around the Cougars woke up and turned it on. Continued pressure on Beaver goalie James Scisson saw opportunities. Blackhawk had a 2 on one break and hit the post, had a goal from the point called off due to off sides,and lost scoring chances over and over again. However they would tie the game at 4-4 on a goal by Swinderman, his 2nd of the game and 13th of the season at 11:37. Finally with a little over 2 minutes left at 14:54 Grant Rombold would score his 5th of the year to make it 5-4. Rombold had a great game as he fought for shots, scrummed behind the net to get loose pucks, and was always in the mix on offense but was denied goals time and time again. His goal gave the Cougars a revenge defeat from these two teams earlier meetings as Beaver came from behind in the final minute to win their first contest.

The Bobcats fall to 6-5, while the Cougars improve to 7-4 going into the holiday break. Blackhawk will again be heard on MSA Sports on January 2nd vs McDowell, then again on January 9th vs Harborcreek.

The MSA three stars were: 3rd star with a goal and three assist was Beaver’s Antoni Chirgot. 2nd star was Blackhawks’s Robbie Swinderman with 2 goals. The number one star was Beaver’s Ryan Hartman with 3 goals (the hat trick) and an assist.

The Mount Lebanon Ice Arena play of the game was the game winner by Grant Rombold. Fighting for every inch he pushed his way to the net with 2 Bobcat players hanging on him. He got a shot on net and a well earned game winner for his team.

Tags: Beaver, Blackhawk