'Cats Comeback Falls Short in 5-3 Defeat to Athens

WYTHEVILLE, VA

After shutting out the Athens Rock Lobsters the previous night, and despite outshooting and outhitting their Continental Division foes, the Blue Ridge Bobcats comeback effort fell just short in a 5-3 defeat before a crowd of nearly 2,000 on Stick It to Cancer Night at Hitachi Energy Arena.

After falling behind 5-0, the Bobcats sprung to life late in the middle frame, with a pair of goals in just 2 minutes and 17 seconds. At the 17:11 mark of the second period, Nick McHugh finally cracked the code on William Lavalliere and sniped a wrist shot far stick side to bring his teammates and the crowd back to life. Devin Sanders continued the momentum with just 32 seconds left in the 2nd, stuffing a shot through Lavalliere's five-hole to cut the deficit to three entering the third period.

Daniel Klinecky carried the spark further, trimming the difference to just two goals when he tapped in a backdoor pass from Josh Slegers to make it a 5-3 game. Despite numerous other chances down the stretch, the comeback fell just short.

Greg Hussey did everything he could in goal for the Bobcats, stopping 36 Athens shots for the second consecutive night including a series of spectacular saves midway through the third to keep Blue Ridge within striking distance.

The two teams meet again for a makeup of the previously postponed December 7th matchup in a Sunday night primetime affair tomorrow evening at 7:05PM from Akins Ford Arena in Athens. Coverage on BobcatsTV and 96.5 WCGX "The Cat" begins at 6:50PM.