IceCats Dominate Masuk, Head Into Semi Finals

After all the turnover, and with so many top players lost to graduation last year, even Rusty Granacker wouldn’t have predicted a season as successful as the one his Brookfield-Bethel-Danbury IceCats just wrapped up.

With their 5-2 win over Masuk High, the IceCats closed out their regular season with a record of 16-4, and were unbeaten in SWC play.

“That’s the best regular season record we’ve ever had, so my hat’s off to these guys, especially being such a young group, it’s a great accomplishment,” Granacker said. “To be at the point where we are right now, was not my expectation after having a great season last year and the team being totally different. There’s not one guy that was on the top two lines from last year. For these guys to come out here and perform like this, our schedule is probably tougher than it was last year, and they really rose to the occasion.”

It’s fitting that the IceCats closed out their impressive season with an equally as impressive win. The IceCats dominated the opening two periods, and took a 4-0 lead while outshooting the Panthers 22-4 before heading into the third.

“We tried to keep the shot count down,” Granacker said. “That’s the key for us winning games, playing strong on defense. Anytime we can keep it two goals or less, we’ve got a good chance of putting pucks in the net and winning the game.”

Stephen Hallock started the scoring seven minutes into the game when he knocked in a rebound off of Scott Martin’s shot. Nick Melvin was also credited with an assist on the goal.

“Our second line of Nick Melvin and Stephen Hallock, those two juniors, they work real well together, and we’ve got a couple of other guys working in that line, Kyle Powers and Jon Leonard,” Granacker said.

Trevor Kurijaka extended the IceCats lead three minutes later, when he capitalized on the work Steve Segiet and Andrew Creaturo did behind the net.

“Him, Steve and Andrew have been playing real good together, putting a lot of pucks in the net for us,” Granacker said.

When the first period ended, the IceCats had a 2-0 lead, and held the Panthers to just one shot on goal. Five minutes into the second, Melvin pushed the lead to three when his wrist shot beat Masuk’s Tom Swift. Martin and Powers earned the assists.

Nearly nine minutes after Melvin’s goal, CJ Litwin notched the IceCats fourth goal with an assist from Jordan Warren. Kurijaka added his second of the game, early in the third to make it 5-0.

“He [Kurijaka] did a great job,” Granacker said. “He was really composed with the puck today, and hopefully that continues in the playoffs. Trevor’s a great talent, good hands, good shot and he’s just going to continue to get better for us as the years go by.”

Ryan Campbell finished with nine saves after the Panthers scored twice on power plays late in the final period.

Even with the win, and all the success they’ve had thus far, the IceCats still have plenty left to accomplish, and that begins with the SWC playoffs tonight at 7:10 p.m. against fourth seeded Joel Barlow at the Danbury Ice Arena.

“Tomorrow’s a whole new season,” Granacker said. “And we need to continue to play better.”