SEWELL, NJ– In what could be the most dominant weekend for the Maryland Black Bears, they travelled to the Philadelphia-adjacent area to take on the newly-minted Philadelphia Rebels and swept the weekend with a high-powered offense and tight defense to carry them to victory.
SEPTEMBER 23rd, 2022: BLACK BEARS (5) at Philadelphia (0): Off the hop, the Black Bears were smothering the Rebels defense, with Samuel Stitz creating a turnover at the blue line and finding Hunter Ramos for the early 1-0 lead under 90 seconds into the game. Maryland continued the pressure with Christian Catalano and Jesse Horacek trying to set one-another up, but could not connect with the back of the net. The speed of the Black Bears caused havoc and turnovers, with the penalty kill even getting some solid chances– but the Black Bears had to settle with the 1-0 first period lead.
The barn doors opened for Maryland in the second period, with Dimitry Kebreau getting the scoring started 1:14 into the middle stanza, shorthanded, thanks to a chip off the glass by Gabriel Westling to make it 2-0 for Maryland. The Black Bears opened up a firing range, outshooting the Rebels 23-3 in the second, which created many more goals. Kebreau struck again just past the midway point, coming in and sniping a shot to make it 3-0 for Maryland. Keeping the pressure on, Jesse Horacek grabbed the rebound from the Adam Schankula breakaway to make it 4-0 late in the second, when 10 seconds later, Kebreau finished the hat trick with a snipe from the top of the slot and the Black Bears go into the locker room up 5-0.
It wasn’t a prevent defense situation, as Maryland kept their attack going, making sure they made a statement out of this game. Not to be overshadowed, the defense was able to limit the Rebels to only one shot in the final frame and helped William Hakansson have a basic night, leading him to an 11-save shutout as the Black Bears took it 5-0.
SEPTEMBER 24th, 2022: BLACK BEARS (2) at Philadelphia (1): The offense was once again dominant for Maryland, as they put 26 shots on goal, tilting the ice towards Rebels goalie Jake Fiolkoff– who took over in the third of Friday’s game. Fiolkoff was stymying the Black Bears, making solid saves and keeping the game scoreless through one.
Maryland’s Jack Wieneke made his second start in net and made some solid saves in the few chances he faced through the first two periods. Weineke got some goal support in the second frame, as well, with Catalano getting the first goal of the game and his third of the season after tapping home the rebound off a Horacek shot and putting Maryland up 1-0. Try as they might, the Black Bears only had eight shots in the frame to Philadelphia’s five.
The pressure was put back on from Maryland, trying to get the insurance marker for themselves, putting plenty of shots on Fialkoff, but nothing was able to get through in the first part of the period. However, it was the man-of-the-weekend, Kebreau, who was able to get the all important insurance goal for the Black Bears, crashing the net on a Quinn Kennedy pass and getting his four goal of the weekend. Maryland would give up a goal, as Klaus Jogi scored on the rebound passed a diving Wieneke to get the Rebels to within one. Maryland held strong, though, keeping the Rebels at bay and took home the 2-1 victory and the weekend sweep.
The Black Bears are back in New Jersey next weekend, this time to take on the Titans up at the Middletown Ice Arena Friday and Saturday night.
Clutch And Crab Hockey 