From the beginning of the season, the Cupertino Cougars felt that their strength would be their depth. The good news was that anybody on this team could score. But the bad news turned out to be that all this depth just wasn't scoring enough. Without a "go-to" superstar, the Cougars have to depend on everyone chipping in. On Saturday, the Cougars demonstrated what depth can mean to this Team by netting seven goals by seven different players in a convincing 7-2 victory over the High Sierra Wild. A total of thirteen Cougars got on the scoresheet and every line contributed. Two players netted their first goals of the season, Eric Blumenthal and Kelli Howe. For the talented and hard-working Blumenthal, it was his first goal in travel hockey, an accomplishment that earned him plenty of high-fives in the locker room. Blumenthal's goal set the tone for the rest of the game. It came with 31 seconds left in the first period and it provided the Cougars with the spark that they needed to carry the team to victory. The last time the Cougars had scored first in a NORCAL game was all the way back on October 21st. Defensively, the Cougars played their most physical game of the season and it was a key to the victory.The game started like just about every other recent Cupertino Cougars game. The Cougars failed to convert on an early chance and then they took a penalty in the first 3+ minutes of the game. The early scoring chance was initiated by Ian Brown, who took a big hit just before sending a nice feed inside the Wild zone to Ashley Ocampo. Ocampo wasn't able to connect on the shot and play continued. The High Sierra power play came at 11:31 and Cupertino killed it thanks to solid team play. At 8:13, Cupertino picked up another penalty. On this kill, Kelli Howe made a nice steal and then iced the puck. Nathan Zebrowski separated a Wild player from the puck and iced it on another occasion. Eric Blumenthal, Derek Fredericks, and Zebrowski (again) also grabbed loose pucks and sent them coast-to-coast to finish off the penalty kill. Cupertino earned their first power play at 3:51, and when Matt Hopper drew a penalty at 3:03, the Cougars lined up 5-on-3 for 1:12. The Cougars best chance came when Hopper fed a pass to James Ady, who circled around the net and tried to hit Dustin Thomas with cross-ice pass. Thomas was well-defended and he wasn't able to get his stick on the puck. In the final seconds of the second Wild penalty, Ashley Ocampo took a couple whacks at the disk from in tight, but High Sierra kept the puck out of the net and killed the penalty without any really solid scoring chances coming from the Cougars. Cupertino continued to play spectacular defense, controlling the neutral zone and winning the battles in the corners. As a result, High Sierra was only able to get off 3 first-period shots. That defensive effort bought the Cougars enough time to get them on the scoreboard first. They did so on a set play called by Dustin Thomas. Thomas cleanly won a faceoff in the Wild zone and sent the puck directly to Eric Blumenthal who was poised for the slapshot from center ice, about 10 feet inside the blueline. The winger, Derek Fredericks, screened off two defenders, giving Blumenthal a perfect shooting lane. Blumenthal ripped the one timer and it hit nothing but net, giving the Cougars a 1-0 lead at 0:31.
Playing with a 1-0 lead for the first time in nearly three months, the Cougars came out jacked up in the second period. But again, an early penalty forced the Team to focus on a two-minute power play chance for the Wild. Daniel McCarthy made two strong plays in the early part of the penalty kill, first icing the puck and then getting his body in the shooting lane to block a hard slapshot. But the Wild regained control and forced the action deep in the Cougars zone for about 40 seconds. Finally, Eric Blumenthal ripped the puck along the boards to get it out of the zone. A funny bounce caromed directly to Ashley Ocampo at center ice, and she raced into the Wild zone with only one man to beat. The defense was solid and Ocampo was only able to slide the puck toward the net as she was wrestled away from the crease. But the shot was almost perfectly directed and it just missed catching the far post and clanking in. Back at full strength, the Cougars turned up the gas. During their next shift, the forward line of Dustin Thomas, James Ady, and Matt Hopper moved the puck well in the Wild zone, banging bodies every time someone tried to gather in the puck and clear the zone. After a slapshot by Jordan Yindiphol missed, Hopper grabbed the rebound and sent a pass to Kelli Howe. Howe moved in a few steps and sent a slapshot right through the legs of a Wild defenseman, past an excellent screen by Ady, and into the net. The Cougars made it 3-0 just 2:05 later. This goal was made possible when Ian Brown and Devin Ernst combined to win a battle for the puck along the boards. Ernst came out with the puck and fed Ashley Ocampo. Ocampo took the puck around the back of the net and went for the wraparound. The shot was smothered but the rebound slid along the goal line and Brown was right there to stuff it in. Goaltender Addison Lee, who faced only 7 shots in the first two periods and 16 for the game, faced a tough one at 1:17, when Austin Sylvester sped in on a breakaway. Jordan Yindiphol took a great angle to come back and help, effectively taking away the backhand possibility. Lee did his part, rejecting the shot to preserve the lead. Hard work paid dividends for the Cougars when they scored their fourth goal at 0:14. Once again it was physical play by Thomas, Hopper, and Ady working to keep the puck in the High Sierra zone. After a failed clearing attempt by the Wild, Ady managed to get the puck out to center ice where Jordan Yindiphol ripped a howitzer past the netminder that he's probably still looking for. The period ended with Cupertino in control with a 4-0 lead.
The question on the back (in the front?) of everyone's mind entering the third period was whether the Cougars could score more than four goals. That thought might have slid into the background when High Sierra netted a power play goal at 11:07 to make it 4-1. The score came with 10 seconds left on the penalty-kill on a one-timer from point-blank range, off a feed from behind the net. Earlier in the power play, Eric Blumenthal and Daniel McCarthy had solid shifts to get the puck out of the Cougars' zone. At 9:38, Cupertino might have had reason to think that they might not ever score five goals when McCarthy nailed a slapper that was waved off due to a player in the crease. But Cupertino only had to wait 26 seconds more to get that elusive fifth goal. Off a Cougars' faceoff win, Nathan Zebrowski twice wrestled to get control of the puck. He was finally able to slide it over to Michelle Chee, who deflected the puck forward to an open Zack Hitchcock. Hitchcock converted on a backhand to give the Cougars a 5-1 lead. At 4:50, McCarthy continued his strong defensive game when he broke up a 2-on-1 High Sierra rush. At 3:58, Dustin Thomas had an uncontested shot from close range that the goalie managed to save. Ashley Ocampo's rebound attempt was also stopped and the score remained 5-1. A defensive giveaway led to High Sierra's only even strength goal of the game. It came on a 2-on-1 rush when the trailer converted on a rebound after Addison Lee had stopped the forward skater's slapshot. But High Sierra's score didn't slow the Cougars' party one bit. With the same line taking the ice for the ensuing faceoff, they got the goal back. James Ady started the play with a nice pass to defenseman Ben Dines. Dines took a slapshot that deflected off a screening Matt Hopper to the aforementioned James Ady who was camped out at the side of the net. Ady cashed in to make it 6-2 at 1:37. Cupertino added a power play goal for good measure at 0:37. After whiffing on an open, one-timer in front of the net, Nathan Zebrowski got what every hockey player would love to have at a time like that - another chance. Zack Hitchcock gathered in the misfire and had the puck pinned along the boards behind the net when a Wild player tried to backhand it loose and out of the zone. Michelle Chee was there to intercept the clearing attempt. She sent the puck back to Zebrowski who was waiting in the same spot as before, and this time he didn't miss.
By virtue of their 7-2 win, the Cougars move to 5-4-3 in NORCAL play. The team will be looking for another fast start when they meet the Santa Clara Blackhawks next weekend. Although the Cougars have defeated the Blackhawks twice already this season, they have had to fight from behind each time to do so.
Scoring Punch Powers Cupertino, 5-2
5, Santa Clara, 2 
