JV Team Takes Frustrations Out on Grayslake-Antioch

Our JV Cats dominated the opponents shutting them out 9-0 behind Max Laughlin in goal and a feeding frenzied offense.

It was a break-out game for JV and well played, team oriented game from start to finish.  Our guys played with an edge and with purpose. They seemed to do the  little things right; pinching, ice spacing, forechecking, etc .

Colin Wonderlic led the way with 5 total points (1 goal and 4 unselfish helpers). Jack Rieke hustle for the hat trick and one dish.  Kevin Wendt tallied one with three assists.

Other Cats in on the scoring...assist by Eric 'the Beast' Cardona, Ian Donnahoo with 1 goal and an assist, 1 goal from Garrett Gratz, an unassisted score from big Matt Majewski.

The Cats were also economical in their scoring, tallying 9 goals on 31 shots.

Grayslake tried to intimidate the Cats during the game but the Cats would have none of that. 

Great win boys.....let's build on that momentum this weekend!!

Varsity Cats Win Two More to Make it 4 Straight !! (11/22-23)

The Varsity Cats are on a roll!  With back-to-back, come from behind wins on Saturday and Sunday, they’re now over .500 for the season and have momentum for our next game scheduled at home versus Grayslake, this Friday night at 8:40pm.

The Cats started the weekend with a hard fought 8-5 win over the CCM Tigers in Crystal Lake.   Ian Smith was a major catalyst, hustling the entire game to score 5 Goals (yes- 5 goals) with one assist.  PJ Marsek had a hat trick and finished with 5 total points.   The Cats threw 49 shots on net and Cats’ goalie, Erich held saw 34 shots.

PJ Marsek started the Cats’ scoring with an unassisted in the 1st.  CCM then came back and scored twice to move ahead , 2-1.  Ian Smith scored the first of his scoring onslaught, assisted by Chris Jungmann to tie the game at 2. Marsek score his second of the game, with helpers from Andy Katz and Tyler Wonderlic.  CCM came back to tie the contest 3-3, before Smith scored his 2nd of the game (from PJ).   CCM didn’t quit and scored the next goal to tie back up at 4.

The Cats then took command of the game and scored the the next three goals putting this one out of reach.   Smith picked up the hat trick, from  Jungmann (2 assists on the night) and Marsek.  PJ tallied the next Cat goal (for his hat trick and 5th point of the night, from Ian Smith and Michael Lauber).  Ian then scored his 4th goal of the game, assisted by Tommy Tambourine.  Ian scored the final Cat goal (his 5th) on an empty CCM net and the score ended Cats 8- the CCM Tigers 5.

The Cats picked up where they left off on Sunday beating the Latin 4-2 in their 2nd straight come from behind victory and one of their best total team efforts of the season. A key to the game for the Cats was capitalizing twice on the other team’s mistakes, scoring two power play goals….while minimizing their mistakes.  The Cats’ defense (Brendan Collins, Michael Lauber, Tommy Tambourine, Joe Vandermay and Tyler Wonderlic) played very tough throughout the game, smothering Latin almost every time they touched the puck.  Goalie, Erich Held stopped 19 of 21 shot for a 90% save percentage).

Latin jumped out to score the first goal before PJ Marsek rocketed a wrist shot in the top shelf.   Latin came back to take A 2-1 lead, but the Cats would not be denied.   Ian Smith scored on a power play goal to tie the game 2-2 (from Marsek and Jungmann).

Then Chris Jungmann hammered home game winner on a great pass from PJ across the slot.   Latin pulled their goalie which always causes angst for the Parents and Coaches but PJ Marsek sealed the deal on an empty-netter that he pumped in from center ice.  Cats win 4-2!

Fans, Come out and support your winning Ice Cats this Friday night!!!

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JV Cats Drop Last 3 Games but Play Strong Game versus the Ice Dogs

The JV Cats have lost 3 games but started coming out of their funk with a solid performance versus the Glacier Ice Dogs.

The Cats lost two regular season games to Maine and CCM (5-1 and 6-1 respectively) in two games where they seemed to be out of synch.  The lone Cat goals in these contests were scored by Collin Wonderlic and Brad Feinman (from Kevin Wendt).  The highlights in the Maine game were the huge checks administered by Greg Majewski.   The Maine team tried to pay Greg back for the hit he put on one of their teammates in the previous game, but Greg ended up breaking one of their hockey sticks in the collision (oops).  The highlight in the CCM game was a hard slapper put on net by Eric ‘The Beast’ Cardona, almost scoring and then followed by Eric, begging for another pass ... the Beast needs feeding!

They found some energy in Sunday’s game versus a strong Ice Dogs team despite losing, 4-1.  Collin Wonderlic scored the lone Cats goal but a number of players really played some strong shifts during the game including, Cam Taylor, Matt Kalish, Garrett Gratz and Kevin Jungmann.  The Cats welcomed back talented Ian Rebmann who really played with some fire on defense.

Varsity Cats Win 2nd in a Row! (11/10)

The Cats played an inspired game in front of a good fan turnout, beating Naz/Guerin, 5-0.

It was the Cats 1st shut-out of the season led by goalie, Erich Held who turned back all 25 opposing shots.  The Cats' D played very tough in front Erich, delivering many clean checks throughout the game.  Additionally, the Cats were great on the penalty kill, snuffing out all 8 Naz-Guerin power plays, including two situations where they were down 2 players!

Offensively, the Cats were also clicking, with Michael Lauber picking up the first goal, assisted by PJ Marsek and Ian Smith.

PJ then scored the 2nd Cats' goal, shorthanded and unassisted.

The 3rd Cat goal was a thing of beauty as winger, Chris Jungmann fired a pass from behind the net to Ian Smith who was charging in from the slot.  Ian ripped a shot to make it 3-0 Cats.

Stephen Stanis finished it up for the Cats' scoring the final two goals! (on passes from Marsek and Nick Young.)

Great team effort Cats!  Let's make it three in a row with your next game against CCM this Saturday.

Varsity Cats Play Well and Split Two Games (11/7 & 9). 

The Cats played very well in yesterday afternoon's game, beating Jacobs 7-5.   A key to the game was the Cats' power play which registered 6 power play goals on 15 Jacobs' penalties.  Co-Captain PJ Marsek led the charge connecting for the hat trick and an assist for four points.  Tyler Wonderlic opened the scoring blitz with a blistering wrist shot from the point that surprised a screened goalie, and even surprised Tyler that it went in.  That was T-bone's first goal of the season and vows more are on the way.

Jacobs scored the next two goals and took a 2-1 lead but the Cats came back and put the game out of reach, scoring the next 5 goals.  In order, Marsek went unassisted, followed by the fiery Andy Katz, who has been taking no prisoners or 'guff' from any opponent. Andy's goal was assisted Tommy Tombo-rine and the speedy, Connor Krukowski.  Tommy was throwing his body around all night, getting under the bad guys' skin and drawing three penalties.  Tommy looked like AJ Pierzynski out there, goading the other team into questionable action.

The next Cat goal was scored by PJ Marsek, assisted by the high energy 'frosh', Colin Wonderlic.  The Cats continued to pour it on with big D-Man and Co-Captain Brendan Collins scoring on a feed from Krukowski again.

PJ lit the lamp again on a pass from Chris Jungmann.  Jacobs score 2 more times before PJ Marsek put in the insurance goal on a helper from Colin Wonderlic.

Erich Held stopped 16 of the 21 shots he faced and the Cats put 34 shots on the Jacobs' team.  Good win guys...let's do it again tonight versus Naz/Guerin.

The Cats needed a victory after their loss to CLS on Friday night 4-1.  They had many chances in this contest with 34 shots on net but couldn't seem to solve their opponents' goaltender.  The lone Cat goal was scored by  PJ Marsek, from Colin Wonderlic and Joey Vandermay. Erich Held was great behind the pipes, stopping 35 shots.  The highlight of the game was the fan support- at least 40 students turned out to cheer the Cats on.

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Tyler Wonderlic, wondering how his shot went in the net versus Jacobs...Cat teammates congratulate him

PJ Marsek does his best Bobby Orr impersonation (The Goal) after scoring one of his three goals on the night, assisted by Colin Woderlic

Bobby Orr does his impersonation of PJ Marsek

Michael Lauber gets ready to score with Chris Jungmann in position to tip

Colin Wonderlic winds one up from the point

JV Team beats Maine on Home Ice

In an exciting game that featured several momentum shifts, the JV cats held on and beat Maine 5-3.  Goalie Max Laughlin stopped 24 of 27 shots and the Cat defense looked really good with several jarring, clean checks administered by the Polish Twin Towers (Greg and Matt Majewski) and Brad Feinman.  Greg Majewski delivered an open ice check that caused an opposing player to lose his stick and mouthguard before skating off the ice.    The Maine team really thought twice before going into the corners,

Maine scored first before the Cats quickly responded with four consecutive goals.  The first was scored by Ian Donnahoo (from Jack Rieke) with a burst of speed and sweet upper right corner shot over the goalie's shoulder. 

Kevin Wendt scored next from Matt Majewski. The Cats continued to bring it, with Colin Wonderlic scoring the next goal on a pass from Cam Taylor. Ian Donnahoo kept up the pressure scoring his second goal of the game (assisted by Kevin Wendt).  Ian had a great overall game.

So with a 4-1 lead you figured we were okay right?  Not quite, as Maine answered with two goals of their own, tightening things up to 4-3. Kevin Wendt finally put it away with a shorty (his third point of the night) and the Cats stopped them the final two minutes of the game for the 5-3 victory.

Ian Donnahoo goes top shelf for his first of two goals!

Tony Rosetti gets ready to stuff one in

Eric 'Beast' Cardona eyes his prey

Winger, Kevin Jungmann,  speeds toward the puck

The aftermath of Greg Majewski's hit, now known as 'The Check'....Guerin player leaves his stick and mouthguard behind as he skates off the ice.

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