To quote the legendary Ric Flair, "To be the best, you got to beat the best."
The Wildcats ended their regular season this past weekend with a record of 21-7-2. Those last two games the 'Cats played came last weekend at the MIHL Showcase in Trenton, Michigan this past weekend.
The best the Wildcats have seen all year were the #1 Michigan ranked Brighton Bulldogs, who the Wildcats played on Friday.
To the surprise of many naysayers in the hockey world, the Wildcats came out on the prowl. Within the first 8 minutes of the game, Connor Koehnke went top shelf past Logan Neaton to chalk one on the scoreboard before the Bulldogs.
Jake Crespi, a Bulldog commit to Lake Superior State, took over the game in the remaining minutes of the period, notching 2 goals and 1 assist, putting the Wildcats down 2 after 17 minutes of play.
Ever-present senior Connor Koehnke brought the team within one with an early second period goal. That was as close as the Wildcats would get. After a late second period goal immediately after a power play, and Neaton standing on his head in the game's final period, the Wildcats, fell, 5-2. A Brighton late goal made it 5-2, a deficit too big for the Cats to overcome.
Thirty hours later, the Ice Cats were back at it against No. 4 Orchard Lake St Mary. Senior stud Seth Whitney went up high to open up the scoring, but the Eagles of Orchard Lake answered back with three straight goals.
Rising star junior Mike McCaffrey then went 5-hole on the Eagle netminder off of a slick pass from Michael Boehm, making the score 3-2.
Fast forward 16 minutes to Langermeier and Gerard hits and an Eagle goal, and the Wildcats trailed by two late in the game with a timeout and Savarino (who finished his regular season rookie campaign with 17-7-1 record) on the bench for an extra skater. After an Eagle penalty, Connor McGowan finished a goal to bring a new life to the Cats.
Junior Bain Kurtz scored with 1:50 left and threw 2 triumphant arms in the air, as the Wildcats had done the near impossible.
MIHL showcase games do not include overtime, so straight to a shootout we went.
Benny Savarino put up a valiant effort in the shootout letting in only one goal, but the Wildcats' version of the Murder's Row – McCaffrey, Koehnke, and Whitney – all came up just a bit short.
The Cats played their top tier brand of hockey and look to continue it this Tuesday in the GLHL Quarterfinal against Lake Catholic. Puck drops at 6:00 p.m. at OBM Arena.