California Cougars vs. Lake Tahoe Grizzlies

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Writeup of Game on 11/12/11; 3-3 tie with Lake Tahoe Grizzlies at Bridgepointe
 
Threes were wild as the California Cougars rallied from a 3-goal deficit with a trio of third period goals to tie the Lake Tahoe Grizzlies 3-3 in a Bantam B contest at Bridgepointe on Saturday, Nov. 12. Pace Farbstein was the catalyst for the comeback, sandwiching a pair of goals around a score by Adam Rosenduft to extend the Cougars' unbeaten streak to 4 games.

After a scoreless first period that saw most of the action in the home zone, the Grizzlies got on the board 3 times in a 3:33 stretch of the middle stanza. But the Cougars were able to claw back to earn a point and remain alone in third place in the Bantam B division with 6 points.

With Max Frenkel on the Injured Reserve list due to an appendectomy (get well soon!) and Erik West unavailable, Coach Rob Tenore had to make some quick adjustments. Kyle Tanaka eyed the hulking Grizzlies' team but still volunteered for hazard duty on defense, and made the most of his emergency start as a blueliner by hustling to break up several scoring chances. Reserve netminder Carson Murison said goalie Nick Gary, who foiled one breakaway attempt, had little chance on the goals as one forehand crept just inside the far post and another was the result of the big Grizzlies' forwards forcing their way behind the defense and repeatedly slashing at the puck until it crossed the line.

In the second intermission, Coach Tenore implored his team to come back with one goal in each 5-minute stretch. The team responded, bringing the crowd to its feet. (Actually, most people were already on their feet, but this had them stomping them, and pounding on the glass.)

Less than 2 minutes into the final frame, Nash Berkowitz pounced on the puck and found John Bohac, who raced down the rink and slid the centering pass to Farbstein, who bulged the back of the old onion sack to cut it to 3-1. Four minutes later, Adam Rosenduft was rewarded for outworking the Grizzlies' D along the boards, as he spun and fired the puck toward the crease and watched it ricochet in off a skate to cut it to 3-2.

With 7:16 left in regulation, Farbstein and Bohac had pep in their step as they got out on a 2-on-1 and Farbstein let a high forehand fly from the left faceoff circle that rippled the mesh just over the goalie's outstretched blocker for the tie.

The Cougars played tough the rest of the period, as physical forward Shura Boz led the team with 7 checks. Daniel Schmidt dished out 4 hits and Chase Bolling rubbed out 3 Grizzlies along the boards. Tom Beebe had 3 hits to clear the defensive zone and Elliot Salazar denied entry a couple of times. Ryan Bockholt patrolled and controlled the neutral zone and Matthew Lydon was physical on both ends of the rink.

The referees correctly disallowed a goal when a Grizzlies' forward swiped the puck into the net with his hand, but the Cougars were unable to score the winning goal in the closing seconds.

Coach Tenore complimented the team on sticking to the system and trusting each other, and added that the squad didn't get down when it fell behind by 3 and instead skated harder and earned the tie.
 
Game notes: The Cougars were outshot 10-1 in the first period and 35-18 overall. Berkowitz extended his point-scoring streak to 5 games and won a team-high 12 faceoffs. Farbstein extended his goal-scoring streak to 4 games. Rosenduft went 10-9 in faceoffs. Bohac got off 3 shots despite taking 4 hits. The team went 0-1 on the power play.
 
Next Game: Sunday, Nov. 20 at 4:45 pm vs. Santa Rosa Flyers at Snoopy Ice