LATROBE, Pa. - On Wednesday, the Cougars (9-3, 4-1 PAC) clashed with the Saint Vincent Bearcats (7-5, 5-1 PAC) for feline dominance. Despite initially falling behind and a back and forth first quarter, the Cougars pulled ahead before halftime and won by a comfortable score of 15-7.

The Bearcats were able to score first, finding the back of the net just 37 seconds into the game. The Cougars answered back with a pair of goals to claim their first lead of the game. It started with an unassisted goal by Thomas Whitaker, his 43rd of the season. He was followed by J.R. DuBose, who scored his fifth goal of the season assisted by Brady Rigdon. The Bearcats fired back with a pair of their own to go back in front. The Cougars had the last word in the first quarter, however as Devin Traister scored his seventh goal of the season, unassisted to tie the game at three at the end of the first quarter.

The second quarter was all Cougars, starting with Jacob Lubawy scoring his 17th goal of the season giving the Cougars the lead for the second time in the game. Thomas Whitaker followed, scoring his second goal of the game, 44th of the season, assisted by Lubawy. Whitaker then closed out the first half with his 45th goal of the season, completing his first half hat trick. That gave the Cougars a 6-3 lead as the teams broke for halftime.

In the third quarter, the Cougars carried their momentum from the first half. Luke Iovino scored his first goal of the day, sixth of the season, assisted by Jacob Lubawy to open the half. Devin Traister followed with his second goal of the day, eighth of the season, unassisted to cap a 5-0 scoring run by the Cougars. The Bearcats got one back before the Cougars started their next long scoring run. Sean Creeded scored his 11th goal of the season unassisted to start the run. Luke Iovino followed with an unassisted goal of his own, his seventh of the season, before Creeden scored another unassisted goal, his 12th goal of the season. That gave the Cougars an 11-4 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

The Cougars maintained their run into the fourth quarter as the Cougars scored a fourth straight unassisted goal, this time it was Jesse Corser-James scoring his first goal of the game, third of the season. Thomas Whitaker scored his fourth goal of the game, 46th of the season, assisted by Devin Traister. Whitaker followed that with an unassisted, man advantage goal for his fifth goal of the game and 47th of the season. Whitaker scored again to complete his run of three consecutive goals, assisted by Adam Rinker. That was Whitaker's sixth goal of the game and 48th of the season, again on the man advantage. That capped the Cougars 7-0 scoring run giving the Cougars a 15-4 lead. The Bearcats scored the final three goals of the game but it was too little, too late as the Cougars won 15-7.

The Cougars were led offensively by Thomas Whitaker's six points (6G). Jacob Lubawy (1G 2A) and Devin Traister (2G 1A) had mirrored three point lines. Cody Randal led the Cougars with seven ground balls while winning 14-of-24 face offs. Jack Neal had a team high two caused turnovers. James Cipollone picked up his ninth win of the season, making 12 saves and recording a .632 save rate.

The Cougars will be back in action on Saturday April 11th, when they host the Thiel Tomcats for Senior Day at 1 PM.