ODENTON, MD– Coming off a much deserved break for the holidays, the Maryland Black Bears took to home ice to welcome both the 2024 calendar year and the Maine Nordiques in a battle of the top teams in the East Division. Despite a few hiccups, the Black Bears came back rested and with a purpose as they swept the weekend in front of sell out crowds at Piney Orchard to regain first place in the division.
FRIDAY JANUARY 5th, 2024: BLACK BEARS (4) vs. Maine (2): Maine tried to exploit their speed early on, but Owen Lepak made some solid saves to make sure they didn’t get the early lead. Maryland was able to counterattack in the middle of the frame, but it was Maine who broke the ice with Shane Kozlina notching a goal after a Black Bears power play in the dying seconds of the period to put Maine up 1-0 after 20 minutes.
The Black Bears got out to a fast start, trying to level the score, but Thomas Heaney was solid in the early frame. The two teams got feisty in the middle part of the frame, which seemed to spark the Black Bears. Just passed halfway, Luke Janus got Maryland on the board with a rocket of a shot from the top of the circle to beat Heaney to even the score. The Black Bears got a power play late in the second, but Jesse Horacek made short work of it, scoring six seconds into the extra man advantage to make it 2-1 Black Bears heading into the intermission.
Maryland continued their pressure in the third period, cashing in 3:53 into the frame with Kareem El-Bashir getting the last touch on a wild sequence in front to make it 3-1 Black Bears. Towards the middle of the frame, Dylan Gordon tallied his third of the year, jumping down from the point and knocking home a shot as he was falling to make it 4-1. Lepak and the defense were solid down the stretch and it wasn’t until a broken play with three seconds left that allowed Cole Hipkin to notch his third goal of the season, but Maryland got the last laugh in the 4-2 win. The win was the 150th for head coach Clint Mylymok.
SATURDAY JANUARY 6th, 2024: BLACK BEARS (4) vs. Maine (0): Looking for at least one win, Maine came out of the gate flying, but Owen Lepak again was stellar in the early going, tracking pucks through traffic in front. The Black Bears struck first with Sam Stitz, who was making his season debut, redirecting Luke Amell’s point shot to make it 1-0 for Maryland. Two minutes later, Riley Ruh redirected Jeremi Tremblay’s shot for his sixth of the year to give Maryland a 2-0 lead. Maine tried to mount any kind of attack, but the defense kept them at bay to keep it 2-0 through one period.
In the second, both sides went back and forth with their chances, with Maryland dictating the play in the latter half of the frame. That would pay off for them with Ryder Nienhaus notching his fifth of the season from a cross-ice pass from Luke Janus off an initial bump pass from Kareem El-Bashir at the line to make it 3-0 for Maryland. Lepak made some tough saves late to keep his sheet clean through 40 minutes.
It only took 1:40 into the third for Maryland to make it 4-0 off of the stick of Janus for his seventh of the season. From there, Maryland was able to lock it down, only allowing three shots in the third period to help Owen Lepak secure his first NAHL shutout and give the Black Bears a big weekend sweep to regain first place in the Division.
The Black Bears are on the road next weekend against the Northeast Generals. All coverage will be available on NAHL TV.
Clutch And Crab Hockey 