Monday Roundup: Moore, Knochenmus Lead Huge Alumni D-III Weekend
Last Week:
Saturday, February 7: Bobcats 5, Wings 2
This Week:
Friday, February 13: Bobcats vs. Wings, VFW Sports Center, 7:15pm
Saturday, February 14: Bobcats at Minotauros, Maysa Arena, 7:35pm
One Night Standard
FRISCO, TX – With just one game on their resumes from last weekend, Bobcats Jared Pike still managed to net the Central Division's Second Star of the Week while Alex Bitsakis secured an honorable mention nod for the award.
Pike bookended the first two periods of Saturday’s 5-2 win at Aberdeen with goals—17 seconds into the first and with 54 ticks remaining in the second—to jump into a fifth-place tie on the Bobcats in goals.
Bitsakis, meanwhile, steadied the back-end with 31 stops in his 24th appearance, including a circus save with 8:37 gone in the contest on Colin Raver. The Montreal, Quebec, native sits tied for 10th in the NAHL with 14 wins.
Alumni Rip up Division III
While a full 23 Bobcat alums contributed to their teams’ success on the scoresheet at the college and pro levels over the weekend, the impact of the black and gold was most strongly felt in the NCAA Division III ranks: a whopping 35 points came from former Cats in D-III play.
Leading the way were the Wisconsin-Eau Claire duo of Patrick Moore (1g, 4a) and Adam Knochenmus (2g, 1a)—both 2011-13 Bobcats—with a combined three goals and five assists as the Blugolds swept a weekend of WIAC play from Wisconsin-Superior. It marked Moore’s second five-point weekend out of the last three.
More 2012-13 alumni clashed in a MIAC home-and-home split between St. Mary’s and Augsburg: Bob Kinne supplied the Cardinals with a goal and two assists while his former teammates Rory Vesel (2a) and Corbin Chapman (1g, 1a) racked up four points.
In other MIAC action, Huba Sekesi scored once while Kevin Becker and Tyler Dunagan chipped in four assists in a weekend split for St. John’s against Hamline.
Late-season surges from Matt Gates (2010-11) and Buster Hebda (2011-12) helped Concordia (Wis.) to a two-game sweep of Northland as the Bobcat alums piled up three goals.
Matt Pohlkamp (2012-13) had an assist while goalie Tommy Burke (2010-12) secured two wins in net on a combined 39 saves as eighth ranked Bowling Green clinched a spot in the 2015 WCHA tournament with a sweep of Ferris State.
Other collegiate Bobcats to notch points included: Mike Dockry (St. Thomas, 1g, 2a); Tommy Malkmus (Finlandia, 1g, 1a); George Malliaras (St. Norbert, 2a); Stanislav Dzakhov (Niagara, 1g); Don Olivieri (Nazareth, 1g); Joe Giordano (Connecticut College, 1g); Frankie DeAugustine (UMass-Boston, 1g); Ryan Jacobson (Brown, 1a); Charlie Aus (Concordia MN, 1a); Nick Miglio (Utica, 1a).
In the pros, 2005-06 NAHL Rookie of the Year Eric Kattelus posted a goal and three assists in four games for Kalamazoo of the ECHL to vault into the Wings’ scoring lead with 33 pts (6g, 27a). His 27 helpers rank 18th in the league.
Coming Up
The Bobcats will have a Friday rematch of last week’s game as they host Aberdeen for a 7:15pm duel at the VFW Sports Center; Saturday will see the Cats embark on a three-game road swing that starts at 7:35pm in Minot against the Minotauros.
Tickets for round 10 of the Titan Machinery Dakota Cup are now on sale: fans can buy & print their tickets 24 hours a day at BismarckBobcats.com or charge by phone at 222-3300.
Live coverage of Friday’s weekend opener will begin at 6:45pm locally on SuperTalk 1270, KLXX-AM, the radio home of Bobcat Hockey, and worldwide online at NAHL.FASTHockey.com, the official web television partner of the North American Hockey League.
Though the 2014-15 season is now past the half-way mark, there is still time to order season tickets for the year; fans who want to lock in their seats for the entire campaign should call the Bobcat office at 222-3300 today!