CATHOLIC CENTRAL COUGARS 3 vs PLYMOUTH WILDCATS 2

Dec. 6, 2019

By Regan Cleves

BYRON CENTER, Mich.- The Catholic Central Cougars knocked off the seventh-ranked team in Division 2 on Friday, defeating the Plymouth Wildcats 3-2 at Southside Ice Arena. Jacob Onstott led Catholic Central to the victory, factoring in on all of the Cougars’ goals. Ryan McClelland collected his third win of the season, making 16 saves on 18 shots.

Next weekend, Catholic Central (3-1-1; 1-0) will travel to Gaylord to play the Detroit Country Day Yellowjackets (3-2; 1-0) as part of the Division 3 Challenge. That game will start at 4 p.m. at Otsego County Sportsplex.

Plymouth opened up the scoring at 3:58 of the first period, as on a delayed penalty, Jacob Serra popped home a rebound on a 2-on-0 to make it a 1-0 game in favor of the visitors.

Catholic Central was denied a game-tying goal moments later on the power play, as Onstott pounded a rebound into the back of the net off of a shot from the top of the slot. However, the referees waved off the goal due to the net being knocked off, keeping the Cougars off the board. The Cougars did not get another chance on that man advantage.

The Cougars could not be kept scoreless for much longer, though, as they were awarded a power play when Brendan Matey was sent off for interference. Soon after the ensuing faceoff, Onstott received a pass on the left wing boards from Nathan Rublein and put a shot on goal. Wildcat netminder Joel Drucker made the initial save but could not get to the rebound in time, as Harvey Holleman tapped it into the back of the net to tie up the hockey game at 1-1.

With 3:04 elapsed in the middle frame, Jacob Onstott propelled Catholic Central into the lead when he received a pass from Ryan Rollins below the goal line and buried it past Drucker for his fifth goal of the campaign, giving the Cougars the 2-1 lead.

With 8:03 left in the second period, Onstott picked up a loose puck along the left wing boards fed it into the slot to a wide open Rollins in who ripped it through traffic and past Drucker, giving Catholic Central the two-goal lead.

McClelland shut the door in the second, turning aside all four Plymouth shots, while his counterpart, Drucker, made 14 saves on 16 shots.

Midway through the third, Michael Izzy won a draw in the offensive zone, and a shot from the point went wide and ricocheted off the end boards. Brayden Goebel controlled it along the right side of the net and put it into the short side past a sliding McClelland to pull the Wildcats within one at 3-2.

Plymouth pulled Drucker in favor of the extra attacker with exactly one minute remaining in regulation, but it was too little, too late as Catholic Central held on and triumphed over Plymouth by a score of 3-2.

Three Stars: 1. GRCC Onstott (goal, two assists); 2. GRCC Rollins (goal); 3. PLM Drucker (32 saves, loss)

Game Center: https://www.mihshockeyhub.com/game/show/27269752?referrer=5295104

Highlights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IXkI2yk5EFQ

Full Game Broadcast: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=xe0qEUW4BxQ