Pittsburgh, PA - On Friday, Chatham (5-0-0, 1-0-0) took on Nazareth (3-2-0, 0-1-0) in the UCHC home opener. The Cougars beat the Golden Flyers by a score of 5-1, extending their program record win streak to five games.
The Cougars brought the up-tempo play almost immediately. Nine seconds into the game, junior Michael Roby scored his 3rd goal of the season, assisted by Nicholas Babbie and Kowin Belstering, to put Chatham up 1-0. The teams traded chances with Cougars goaltender Cameron Kuntar standing tall, making key saves to preserve the lead. With seven minutes left in the period, the game was delayed after a blistering hit by Cougars forward Jake LaRusso, which broke a pane of glass. The upwards of 30-minute delay sent both teams to their respective locker rooms. Coming back from the delay, both teams were chomping at the bit, but the score remained 1-0 in favour of the Cougars as both teams went into the first intermission.
The rare first-period delay did not stop the Cougars' relentless attack in the second period. Picking up right where they left off, Chatham doubled their lead off of Tyler Samodral's power-play goal. Samodral's four goals on the year tie him for the team lead. Not to be outdone, Jake LaRusso got in on the action, extending his point streak to five games, after he put his 4th goal of the season past the Golden Flyers' netminder. This put the Cougars up 3-0. Chatham thought they got another just two minutes later, but after a lengthy review, the possible goal was waived off. At 18:01, of the second Nazareth cut the lead to 3-1, after scoring on the power play.
In the third, the Cougars put their foot down on the gas. Kyle Contessa scored from Andrew Martino and Caden Pendo to extend the lead to 4-1. At the 15:47 mark, Ian Norekvicus scored on the power play from Bekk McClaine and Kowin Blesterling to put tonight's contest out of reach. Junior goaltender Ryan Preston came in and shut the door, stopping all five shots on goal he faced to secure the Chatham victory.
Nick Cyprian extended his point streak to five games tonight with his 1 assist. Ian Norekvicus now has multi-point games in back-to-back contests. Kuntar earned the win tonight, stopping 32/33 shots on goal, good for a .970 save percentage.
The Cougars will look to extend their historic streak tomorrow, November 15, against the Golden Flyers. Parents' weekend festivities will continue with puck drop slated for 1 pm.
