ODENTON, MD– The Black Bears welcomed in the Rochester Jr. Americans to the Piney Orchard Ice Arena for the first time, riding a four-game winning streak. Though it was a tough battle from both sides, the Black Bears were able to sweep the weekend for a third straight weekend and pull ahead of Rochester even further on the weekend.
FRIDAY NOVEMBER 3rd, 2023: BLACK BEARS (4) vs. Rochester (2): Emotions started high between the two squads, testing the boundaries of what they could get away with. Maryland had the first power play of the game, but Rochester took advantage with their speed, as Luca Leighton got behind the defense and tucked it behind Colin Ronan to give Rochester the early lead. The Black Bears responded 27 seconds later with Jesse Horacek getting the opening goal for Maryland for a third-straight game, this time on the power play to knot things up. With more rough stuff on both sides, the penalty boxes were busy and Maryland would make it count with a man up, as Dimitry Kebreau wired a shot in the top corner past Cole O’Donnell to give Maryland the lead late in the period and into the intermission.
Things were a little less enforced in the second period, allowing the players to play and led to Luke Amell getting his third goal in two games with a hammer from the bottom of the circle to make it 3-1 Black Bears. With the physical game getting more prominent, the offensive chances on both sides went down, as only 12 shots were marked for the second frame. Late in the second, Jaden Dyke was able to get Rochester to within one on his second of the year, but Maryland would hold the lead into the period break.
Maryland started off early in the third, with Trayce Johnson stepping up into the play and flicking a light backhand shot over the entirety of O’Donnell to restore Maryland’s two-goal lead. Rochester thought they had gotten back to within one, but Ronan stretched post-to-post to stop a Noah Vom Scheidt wrap-around and kept the score at 4-2, which would hold up for the final, and give the Black Bears their fifth straight win.
SATURDAY NOVEMBER 4th, 2023: BLACK BEARS (3) vs. Rochester (2) SO: The emotioned continued to run high with this series, as this game was called a little more wide-open than Friday night’s affair. Maryland would open the scoring in this one, however, with the returning Jeremi Tremblay notching his ninth of the season on a tic-tac-toe play from Adam Schankula and Trayce Johnson to give the Black Bears the lead. While Maryland had some power play chances, they could not find the back of the net behind Cole O’Donnell. On the other end, Owen Lepak played solid, seeing pucks through traffic to hold the Black Bears lead through 20 minutes.
Penalty issues got to Maryland in the second period and Rochester pounced with Noah Vom Scheidt putting home a rebound on the power play to tie the game up early in the second. Maryland was able to kill off the other two penalties in the second, while they took advantage of the four-on-four chance late. Tremblay, again, picked the puck up off a face off and ripped it home with three seconds left in the period to give Maryland the lead after two frames.
The Black Bears had a major power play early after Sebastian Brockman was checked from behind and his head hit the dasher board. He was able to leave the ice, with assistance, on his feet. On the five-minute power play, however, it would be Rochester who would strike with Massimo Gentile getting behind the Maryland defense and beating Lepak on a breakaway to tie the score. Maryland couldn’t hold possession during the major power play or the four-minute double minor they had afterwards, keeping the game tied through the period. Both sides hit some crossbars and posts, to keep the game knotted at two and forced into overtime.
Early in overtime, Maryland went down a man and it was up to Lepak and the penalty killers to keep the game going through the penalty kill. As he was down in pain from a strain, Lepak was able to stretch out the inside of his blocker to deflect a puck out of play at the end of Rochester’s power play. Neither team notched a goal in the extra frame, which pushed it to a shootout.
In the shootout, Tremblay was able to score in the second round for Maryland, while Matteo Disipio responded in the third round. With the extra shooter, Lepak stopped Gentile, while Luke Janus ripped one through O’Donnell to give Maryland the extra point and another sweep.
The Black Bears are back home this weekend, as they take on the New Jersey Titans at Piney Orchard. Tickets available at Tickets.MarylandBlackBears.com with limited release at the Piney Orchard box office.
Clutch And Crab Hockey 