News Archive

In their first tournament ever playing together, the Squirt Elite team captured the NBYHL Spring Fling Tournament Gold Championship title, with an incredible 2-1 win over the Amherst Rangers from Amherst, MA! 

Throughout the weekend, the team was able to come together and defeat some very talented teams from New York and Massachusetts. In Game 1 on Friday night, the 'Cats faced a relentless Northern Berkshire Black Bears team. The hosts gave the 'Cats all they could handle, but the team exploded for three late period goals to over power the Black Bears to a 6-0 win. On Saturday morning, the team faced-off against the Clifton Park Eagles. The 'Cats held a 2-1 lead until the final minutes of the game, when the Eagles scored off a deflection on the power play to pull away with a 2-2 tie. Finally on Sunday morning, the 'Cats faced off against the mighty CP Dynamo. A back-and-forth game gave the Dynamo a 2-1 lead with minutes to play in the 2nd period, but the 'Cats would answer with 3 quick goals to end the period up 4-2. A few opportunistic goals helped the 'Cats prevail to a 6-3 win, but the game was a lot closer than the score would indicate.

The 'Cats advanced to the Gold Medal Championship Game and finished as the #1 seed out of 8 total teams in the division. The Amherst Rangers also went 2-0-1 throughout the weekend, and snagged the #2 seed. The Gold Medal Championship Game was a battle from the first puck drop to the final whistle.

After a scoreless 1st period, Amherst struck with 6 minutes to play in the 2nd period off a tip-in deflection in front of the 'Cats' net. A determined Wildcat team didn't give up, though. Gage Richard (New England Stars) found Cooper Bunt (Saratoga Blue Knights) in front of the net and Bunt burried a beautiful backhand to tie the score up at one a piece. Minutes later, Richard won a battle on the wall and took the puck to the net. A nice top shelf shot went in and Wildcat parents, fans, and coaches went crazy! 2nd period ended with the 'Cats taking a 2-1 lead.

A defensive 3rd period battle was nothing less than exciting and rewarding for the team. Amherst applied as much pressure as they could, but the 'Cats held onto a 2-1 victory to be crowned champions in the NBYHL Spring Fling Gold Medal Game!

Congratulations to the players and coaches, for the Squirt Elite team, on ANOTHER exceptional weekend of Wildcat Hockey... this time in North Adams, MA! What a great start to our 2016 Spring Season!

Up next... the Peewee Elite and Bantam Elite teams head to Hooksett, NH next weekend for the Jr. Monarchs Spring Classic #1 Tournament! Good luck, 'Cats! Let's keep it rolling!