Bobcats Eye First Place against Express

Nov 17, 2010

BISMARCK, ND – The Bismarck Bobcats open one of their longest home stretches of the 2010-11 season Friday when they drop the puck on a two-game series against the Owatonna Express at the VFW Sports Center.

Once again, first place will be on the line in the tightly packed Central Division as the Bobcats (11-7-1, 23 pts)—with two games in hand—currently sit in second place behind the Express (11-7-3, 25 pts).

Both teams enter the weekend on a tear, with the Cats sporting a 5-1-0 record in their last six games while the Express have gone 3-0-1 since the Bobcats swept them two weeks ago at the Four Seasons Centre.

“It’s beginning to sound like a broken record here in November,” said Bobcats head coach Layne Sedevie, “but these are must-win games this weekend against Owatonna. You’ve got a three-team pack at the top of the division and if we can pull back ahead of [the Express] with games in hand, that would be huge for us.”

Air Force Academy recruit Ben Persian continues to lead the Owatonna charge offensively with 14 goals and nine assists while Josh Royston—acquired earlier this week in a trade with the Texas Tornado—will be expected to step in and provide steady production for a deep Owatonna squad.

In net, the tandem of Charles Williams (7-3-2, 3.17 GAA, .904 SV%) and Brock Kautz (3-2-1, 2.72 GAA, .910 GAA) are expected to both see time for the front-running Express.

For the Bobcats, there is a five-player logjam at the top of the scoring standings as Frank DeAugustine (7 G, 9 A), Charlie Mosey (6 G, 10 A), Matt Gates (8 G, 7 A), Nikolaj Rosenthal (8 G, 6 A) and Dan Zawacki (3 G, 11 A) all have fourteen or more points for the home side.

As usual, Ryan Faragher is the Bobcats’ go-to guy between the pipes with a 10-5-1 record on the season. Faragher is looking to bounce back, coming off his worst loss of 2010-11, a 6-1 defeat at Aberdeen last Saturday. Following his worst loss of 2009-10—a 7-3 shellacking at Albert Lea on December 11, 2009—Faragher went on a 14-2-2 tear to close the regular season.

Friday’s series opener gets under way at 7:15 PM with Saturday’s finale to follow at the same time.

Both games will be broadcast locally on the radio home of Bobcat Hockey, Super Talk 1270, KLXX-AM, and worldwide at http://nahl.fasthockey.com/. Pre-game coverage will begin both Friday and Saturday at 6:45 PM CT.

Season tickets are now on sale for the 2010-11 season! Call the Bobcat Hockey office at (701) 222-3300 or email gobobcathockey@aol.com for more information on reserving your seats for the entire season as the Bobcats look to defend the Robertson Cup!

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