Conor Foley's First Helps Prowlers Past Bobcats

The Port Huron Prowlers took their first ever meeting with the Blue Ridge Bobcats 6-2 at McMorran Place on March 8. Conor Foley scored in his first pro game after signing with Port Huron today.

“I didn’t like the way we started but we responded really well in the second period,” said Prowlers assistant coach Chris Paulin. “There was a little bit of coasting to the finish line, which we addressed after the game, that I did not like. I expect to start and finish better than we did today but, ultimately, our goaltender made some big saves for us and we got some timely goals.”

It was the Bobcats that started the scoring in the first as Nikita Ivashkin picked the corner to make it 1-0. The Prowlers got going in the second as Austin Fetterly found Liam Freeborn on a rush to tie the game. Freeborn extends his point streak to 17 games.

Three minutes later, Conor Foley picked up the puck and headed into offensive territory. His pass towards Ross Bartlett hit a Blue Ridge defender and got past Owen Liskiewicz for his first goal in his pro debut. He also received first-star honors. Later in the period, Evan Foley made it 3-1, putting home a centering feed from Dalton Jay.

“That’s something I work on almost daily,” Evan Foley said. “[Jay] did something that I think is a little uncomfortable, grinding away in the corner, him and Chartrand. Without those two, that goal doesn’t happen.”

Blue Ridge had a power play to begin the third period but Dan Chartrand caused a turnover and had a pass slip five-hole on Liskiewicz to extend the lead to three. A few minutes later, Tristan Simm and Dalton Young scored 28 seconds apart to put the game out of reach.

Daniel Martin got a consolation goal with under three to play for the Bobcats.

Chartrand led all scorers with three points on a goal and two assists and was the game’s second star. Freeborn added an assist to his goal while Jay and Tucker Scantlebury dished out a pair of helpers apiece. Tucker Tynan returned from IR and made 38 saves including 22 in the third period.

Liskiewicz stopped 27 shots in the loss.

“At this time of year, it’s all about wins and losses,” Paulin said. “Anyone you play, can hurt you if you’re not ready to go. We found ourselves behind tonight and had to crawl back from that. I think it’s very important that we get off to a hot start tomorrow, a little bit more physical, a little bit more urgency from the puck drop because these are must-win games down the stretch and we need to play like it.”

The Prowlers and Bobcats match up again tomorrow, March 9, for Port Huron’s pink the rink night. Tickets are available at the door or in advance at phprowlers.com/tickets.

Photo courtesy of Delta Imaging