Bobcats Fall Narrowly to River Dragons 6-4

WYTHEVILLE, VA

In a truly wild back-and-forth affair, the upstart Blue Ridge Bobcats gave the first place Columbus River Dragons all they could handle and more, but a few funky bounces were the difference in a 6-4 River Dragons win.

The Bobcats struck first, when Hunter Hall took advantage of a poke check gaffe from Talor Joseph nearly seven minutes into the first period. Columbus answered with two in succession to lead 2-1 after one period. The River Dragons added a 3rd goal early in the middle frame to double their lead.

Blue Ridge blitzed Columbus the rest of second and most of the third, but were bitten by small miscues and a series of unfortunate puck bounces. The Bobcats powered home two goals in 35 seconds in the middle period. Gehrig Lindberg scored his first career FPHL goal, followed by a backhand snipe from Chris Ciolik. The Bobcats final tally came in the final two minutes, when Ciolik lifted the stick of Joseph behind his own net and found Jakub Volf in front of a yawning cage.

Alex Storjohann scored two of Columbus' six markers on the night. Connor Green stopped 26 of 32 shots in net for the Bobcats.

Both squads will battle again tomorrow night at 7:00. Tickets are available at blueridgebobcats.com/tickets.