'Cats Sweep Venom for Franchise Best 4th Straight Win

WYTHEVILLE, VA-

The Blue Ridge Bobcats, again led by the offensive prowess of Vladislav Vlasov, set a franchise record with their 4th consecutive victory by completing a weekend sweep of the Hudson Valley Venom with a 5-3 win on Hometown Heroes Night.

Before a crowd of better than 1,300 at Hitachi Energy Arena, the Bobcats got off to another fast start thanks to Danny Martin. Austin Bellefeuille let a shot go that deflected off the stantion of the back glass right into the high slot that Martin scooped up and sniped past Eli Bowers just 99 seconds into the game. 

Eimantas Noreika responded for the Venom with a tremendous individual effort to tie the game, but Vlasov's first of a pair of goals on the night put the Bobcats back ahead for good.

Matt Ernst found Savva Smirnov on a beautiful stretch pass, and Smirnov potted home his 7th of the campaign to double the Blue Ridge lead through the opening 20 minutes.

The turning point came within the first 2 and a half minutes of the middle frame. Davide Gaeta potted home a power play goal on a carryover from a Yegor Ramanau holding penalty at the end of the first. The Bobcats response was the game-determining momentum swing. At 2:11 of the second, Jakub Volf provided traffic in front, taking Bowers eyes away and allowing room for Alex Norwinski to wrist home his second goal in as many nights to restore the Bobcats lead. On the ensuing faceoff, Ernst again found a Russian forward on a stretch pass that set up a breakaway, and Vlasov sniped home his second of the game just 9 seconds after Norwinski. 

Bellefeuille earned third star honors for his pair of assists, while Smirnov notched second star for his goal and helper. Vlasov's outstanding two-goal night earned him first star. Hunter Virostek made 28 saves in his 4th straight win in net.

The Bobcats now travel to Athens, GA and become the first opponent at Akins Ford Arena to face the Rock Lobsters next Friday and Saturday night. Both games will be available on 96.5 WCGX "The Cat" and BobcatsTV on YouTube.