Pittsburgh, PA –  On Saturday, Chatham Men's Hockey (19-4-0, 10-4-0) faced off against Elmira (4-18, 2-10-1) in game two of their weekend series. The Cougars beat the Soaring Eagles 5-1, sweeping the season series and wrapping up the home portion of the regular season. 

The Soaring Eagles jumped out to a quick 1-0 lead a minute and a half into the game. They would score on their first shot on goal. Not phased, the Cougars responded halfway through the frame to even the score at 1-1. At the 11:39 mark, Kowin Belsterling scored his 10th goal of the season on the power play. The goal was assisted by Oscar Saarinen and Kyle Contessa. The score would remain this way as the teams headed to the locker room for the intermission. 

In the second, the Cougars continued to battle, scoring two more unanswered goals to extend their lead. At 14:33, Tyler Samodral stayed red hot, scoring in back-to-back games to put the Cougars up 2-1. Samdoral's 12th goal of the season was assisted by Nick Cyprian and Jake LaRusso. The Cyprian-LaRusso connection, which has been strong all season, connected again to put the Cougars up by two. Cyprian buried his 16th goal of the season, setting a new career high, with LaRusso adding his 2nd assist of the night. The Cougars found themselves on a 5-on-3 penalty kill late in the period, but key blocks from True Crowe and Camden Smith kept the lead intact. 

The Cougars put the pedal to the medal in the third period. The lethal Cougars' power play continued. Kyle Contessa buried his 6th goal of the season from Nicholas Babie and Bekk McClaine. Late in the frame, Bekk McClaine found the back of the net for his 9th goal of the season to make it 5-1 in favor of the Cougars. Samodral and Blesterling assisted on the last one of the game. The game got chippy towards the end of the game as the teams combined for 54 penalty minutes for the game. 

The Cougars attack was balanced today as five different Cougars recorded 1 goal and 1 assist, with six different Cougars recording multi-point games. After letting one in on the first shot of the game, goaltender Nikolas Trakakis stayed steady, making 43 saves, good for a .977 save percentage. True Crowe led the way defensively, recording a game-high 6 blocks. 

The Cougars end the home portion of the regular season with an 8-3- 0 record. The Cougars travel to Utica, taking on the Pioneers, in their final regular season series on Friday, February 20th. Puck drop is scheduled for 7 pm.