Neuqua Valley hits the road in round 2 of the Blackhawk Cup as the 21st seeded Wildcats take on the 16 seed Lake Forest out of the North Suburban Conference.
Scoreless in the 1st, Lake Forest with some good chances early on. James Randolph gets a clear look, but the shot is snagged by Jack Blanchard.
11 to play in the 1st the Wildcats with a bad turnover. The puck eventually finds Hunter Heitman and he goes top shelf with the backhand to put the Scouts up 1-0.
A few minutes later the Scouts get another great chance, but Jack Blanchard with the ridiculous bicycle kick save to keep the deficit at 1. With that save Blanchard shows why he was named to the All State team.
The Wildcats look to get the offense going in the 2nd. Michael Viola forces a turnover, then throws the puck on net. It finds Michael Raimondi and he gets a good look, but Jack Nemickas is there for the stop. 1-0 Lake Forest heading to the 3rd .
Early in the 3rd the Wildcats with a 3 on 1 break. Dakota Houlihan snaps the shot from the circle, but Nemickas makes the save.
8 minutes to play and the Scouts head in on the attack. Heitman centers for Charlie Altounian and his shot is redirected past Blanchard by Carter Blake and Lake Forest is now in the drivers seat up 2-0.
2 minutes later the Scouts win the faceoff. Samuel Sheffield squeaks the shot past Blanchard and then Oliver Pasquesi pushes it across the line for the goal and that ends up being too much to overcome as Neuqua Valley falls 4-0 in the 2nd round of the Blackhawk Cup.
