SPHL Vermilion County Bobcats

Rough Return to the Ice, Bobcats Fall 6-1

Published on December 27, 2021 under SPHL (SPHL)
Vermilion County Bobcats News Release


The Bobcats returned to the ice on Sunday evening after a weeklong break to faceoff with the Peoria Rivermen. A rivalry in the making between these two teams saw plenty of rough and rugged action, but mostly from the Peoria side.

In a situation that has become normal by this point of the season the first period found the Bobcats trailing after 20 after Mike Laidley and JM Piotrowski both found the back of the net against Corbin Kaczperski. The Bobcats had chances, but were outshot 18-9 after one period and couldn't seem to find a rhythm with the level of physicality ramping up as the period rolled along.

The Rivermen continued to push the pace of play and physicality as Mitchell McPherson added his 5th and 6th of the year within the first 10 minutes of period 2. The second half of the second period is when everything went to the more physical side. Big hits were the order of the day from both sides as Peoria tried to run over the Bobcats who attempted to use their speed to their advantage. Despite the score the Bobcats did outshoot Peoria 13-8.

The final frame opened up with the Rivermen beating Kaczperski again with a goal from Mathieu Cloutier at 2:07 before the Bobcats received a power play. During the man advantage Vermilion County had changed their attack and as Nick Papandrea pinched in he found Mitch Atkins in the slot who threw a backhanded shot on net which bounced off the pad of goaltender Eric Levine and onto the waiting stick of Houston Wilson who slapped it into a nearly empty net for the first of the night. Unfortunately for the Cats that was all the offense they could muster as a Piotrowski goal shorthanded 7 minutes later closed out the scoring.

Kaczperski stopped 26 of 32 in the loss.

The Bobcats close out 2021 with a home game against the Quad City Storm on Friday December 31 at 7 pm before ringing in 2022 the next night with a 7pm start against Quad City. Log on to VCbobcats.com for tickets or call 630-335-0651.

Check out the Vermilion County Bobcats Statistics

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SPHL Stories from December 27, 2021


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