Cougars take first ever Winter Classic against Mountaineers
GAME 1: SAULT COUGARS vs WEST VIRGINIA MOUNTAINEERS
SAULT STE. MARIE, ON – The Cougars played host to the Division I West Virginia Mountaineers on Saturday night during the first ever Winter Classic hosted by the Sault at the Rankin Arena. The fans were treated to a close game in this one, with the first period yielding no score by either team as both tried to find their game.
The Cougars offence would break out in the second to the amusement of the packed crowd at the Rankin. The barrage started with a goal by Bryceton Lalonde followed shortly after by a goal from Lucas Ducstein. The period would be capped off by captain Ryan Vendramin on a feed from Mark Tassone as he put an explanation point on the second period.
The Cougars would continue to pepper West Virginia with shots (42 total in the game) but the Mountaineers goalie Jacob Hough would stand tall. Cougars goalie Justin Richer would do the same has he turned away all the shots in the third, and the rest of the game, to preserve a shutout in game one which sent the Cougars to a big win in their first ever Winter Classic game.
Cougars Scoring: Ryan Lawrence (2A), Ryan Vendramin (1G), Lucas Duckstein (1G), Bryceton Lalonde (1G), Kaelan O’Flynn (1A), Mark Tassone (1A), Noah Serre (1A), Tanner Mayne (1A).
GAME 2: SAULT COUGARS vs WEST VIRGINIA MOUNTAINEERS
SAULT STE. MARIE, ON – After a big night for Sault College Athletics, and a big win to cap it all off, the Cougars found themselves back at the Rankin Sunday looking for another win against West Virginia. The first started off with a plethora of scoring including 2 goals and an assist by captain Ryan Vendramin and 2 assists by Austin Rowe bringing the Cougars lead to 4-0 after twenty minutes.
Vendramin would finish off the hat trick early in the second sending the Cougars to a 5-0 lead. After the quick Sault goal, West Virginia would strike twice both by Dmitri Jukus as they attempted to climb back into the game. The Cougars would eventually respond near the end of the second with another two goals to add on more to their lead.
In a comfortable position in the third up 7-2 the floodgates would open at the Rankin as the Cougars would score five more goals in the period, including 3 more by Ryan Vendramin as the Cougars swept the weekend series against the Division I West Virginia Mountaineers with a 12-2 final in game two.
Cougars Scoring: Ryan Vendramin (7G, 2A), Austin Rowe (1G, 4A), Kaelan O’Flynn (5A), Mark Tassone (1G, 2A), Lucas Duckstein (3A), Tanner Mayne (1G, 2A)
