Bobcats Battle for 60 Minutes, Fall 4-3 to CAR

WYTHEVILLE, VA

In the most closely contested matchup to date between the budding rival Blue Ridge Bobcats and Carolina Thunderbirds, the guys from Winston-Salem escaped with a 4-3 victory.

Despite being outshot, outhit, and thoroughly outplayed for the majority of the evening, it was one lucky puck bounce that gave the Thunderbirds the win.

Vladislav "Vladechkin" Vlasov opened the scoring, beating Mario Cavaliere through the five-hole a little over four minutes into the first period. John Buttitta answered with a goal for Carolina.

The first period was back and forth, as was most of the rest of the evening.

Justin Daly continued his absolutely scorching hot play of late, scoring his fourth and fifth goals as a Bobcats in just his 4th game with Blue Ridge. His first of the night put Blue Ridge up 2-1 halfway through the opening frame. His second came at the 4:20 mark of the second period to put the Bobcats ahead again 3-2. Carolina prevailed with two unanswered in the third.

The Bobcats will trek down to Baton Rogue, Louisiana and meet another expansion team, the Baton Rogue Zydeco, for the first time next weekend. Both games of the series will be available to watch on the Bobcats YouTube channel.