Bobcats Rally Late But Fall 6-3 to Sea Wolves
WYTHEVILLE, VA
On Veteran's Appreciation Night at the Apex Center, the Blue Ridge Bobcats hosted the Mississippi Sea Wolves for the third time already this season. Much like the first two meetings, it was high scoring and high intensity throughout.
After an early blitz of Sea Wolves shots on Blue Ridge goaltender Connor Green, newcomer Justin Daly found captain Kyle Stevens all alone on the doorstep. The Massachusetts native didn't miss on the golden opportunity and perfect saucer pass from the rookie, potting the chance home at the 6:20 mark of the opening frame to give the Bobcats a 1-0 lead.
Just one minute and 37 seconds later, Yianni Liarakos answered for the Sea Wolves with a power play goal to tie the game at 1. The contest remained knotted up through the rest of the first period and through the first five and a half minutes of the second period. Mississippi moved ahead on a goal from Hugo Koch at 5:31 of the second to take a 2-1 lead.
Daly hopped on his own rebound after a feed from Stevens, netting his first goal in his first game as a Bobcat to tie the game again at 2 just a minute and 7 seconds after Koch put the Sea Wolves ahead.
Joakim Nilsson scored his first of three goals in the waning moments of the second period on the power play to put Mississippi ahead 3-2 after 40 minutes.
Zach Taturn answered with his first goal of the campaign 2:45 into the final frame to tie the game again at 3, but the Sea Wolves followed with three unanswered to close out a 6-3 win.
The Bobcats rallied late with a massive flurry of shots in the final minutes, and outshot Mississippi 50-49 in the game overall. The two teams will tangle once again on Saturday night, with puck drop slated for 7:00 at the Apex Center.