Writeup of California Cougars 4-2 win over Oakland Bears on 12/10/11

The California Cougars returned to league play in impressive fashion with a 4-2 win over the Oakland Bears on Saturday, Dec. 12, led two goals by captain Nash Berkowitz.  The team was inspired by four legs and a little finger: the return of stalwart defender Max Frenkel, the addition of fleet forward Tal Horovitz, and the placement on the Injured Reserved List of Elliot Salazar, who broke a finger in an off-ice accident.

Cougars· leading assist man John Bohac helped get the team on the board 5:35 into the game when he scooped up a puck behind the Bears· goal and fired a backhand toward the net, and the puck ricocheted right to Berkowitz in the slot, and the big captain one-timed home the rebound for the early lead.  After the Bears tied the game on a powerplay goal, Horovitz won a faceoff during the second shift of the second period and Matthew Lydon fired a quick pass back to the center, who then turned and burned up rink and sent a searing forehand past the goalie's glove for a shorthanded goal to make it 2-1.

Shura Boz showed he was good with the wood as he gave the team a 2-goal lead by converting a Horovitz pass and popping the puck over the goalie for his fourth goal of the year.

Chase Bolling had 5 shots and cleared the puck effectively from the defensive zone to help keep the Bears off the board in the middle frame.  Netminder Nick Gary proudly noted how the Cougars didn't back down after hits from the bigger Bears bunch, and Coach Rob Tenore commented that the team repeatedly outworked the visiting skaters.

Just :37 into the final frame, Berkowitz notched his second of the game and 10th of the season when he scored on a low shot from the slot off passes from Bohac and Tom Beebe.

Erik West showed some sick stick skills (try saying that 5 times fast) but was stopped on a point-blank shot.  Pace Farbstein flashed some muscle and hustle but was foiled on a late breakaway and saw his regular-season point-scoring streak end at 5 games.

Goalie Carson Murison used his waffle to turn aside late scoring attempts with help from capable blueliner Ryan Bockholt, and turned aside 25 of 27 shots as the Cougars marked the Win column for the 3rd time this season.

Assistant Coaches Devin Ernst and Christian DeJesus were pleased with the team's skating ability and the blueline presence of Frenkel, who fired off 3 shots in his return.  Winger Daniel Schmidt also had 3 shots, while Adam Rosenduft won 9 of 15 faceoffs and dished out a couple of solid hits.  Kyle Tanaka disrupted the Bears· attack with his speed, playing shifts on both offense and defense.

Game notes:

The Cougar dominated the second period, with a 15-6 edge in shots on the way to a 37-27 advantage in the game.  In addition to scoring a goal, Boz and Horovitz each dished out a team-high 4 hits.  Berkowitz won 14 of 20 faceoffs and Lydon won 5 of 9.  The team scored on 1 of 3 Power Plays and killed 4 of 5 penalties, plus scored one shorthanded goal.  The team moved to 3-2-2 on the year, with 8 points.

Goals:

2: Berkowitz (10)

1: Horovitz (1), Boz (4)

Assists:

2: Bohac (11)

1: Beebe (3), Lydon (3), Horovitz (1)

Plus / Minus:

+2: Berkowitz, Bohac, Boz

+1: Beebe, Bockholt, Boling

 0: Farbstein, Frenkel, Horovitz, Lydon, Rosenduft, Schmidt, Tanaka, West