SEWELL, NJ– Coming off a sweep of Northeast, the Maryland Black Bears looked to stay in the win column with a trip up to South Jersey to take on the Philadelphia Rebels. After a tightly contested Friday match-up that lead to a win, the Black Bears couldn’t get the win on Saturday, leading to a weekend split.
FRIDAY MARCH 21st, 2025: BLACK BEARS (3) at Philadelphia (2): It was a quick start for both teams, as they took the first minute of the game trading chances. Maryland had some issues in their defensive zone, leading to some turnovers, but Ryan Denes came up solid to keep the game scoreless. The Black Bears got their offensive chances throughout, including a power play towards the latter part of the frame, but after 20 minutes, it was a scoreless game.
Maryland tried to keep their offensive momentum going, which was helped by a two-man advantage power play. However, the Black Bears couldn’t find the back of the net. Defensive zone situations reared their ugly heads again, but Denes came up big on many top chances Philadelphia threw at him. It wasn’t until there was 1:06 left in the period when the Black Bears converted. At the tail-end of their fourth power play, Isac Nielsen knocked in his 24th of the year in front of the net to give Maryland the lead going into the second intermission.
Things in the third started off normal, as both teams looked to get on the board to either extend or even the score. It wasn’t until the midway point of the frame when Philadelphia got equal with Ruslan Jamaldinov connected for his 18th of the season at 9:50 into the third. Maryland continued to pressure, with Owen Drury getting his second of the season with a patient play around the back of the net, then cutting to the front to rip one home to make it 2-1. The joy was short-lived, as Jamaldinov got a rebound tucked into the net only 12 seconds later to even the score again. The action didn’t stop there, as a minute and change later, Luke Janus followed up his wrister and put home his 13th of the season to give Maryland the lead once more. The Black Bears defense was able to keep Philadelphia at bay to get the 3-2 victory.
SATURDAY MARCH 22nd, 2025: BLACK BEARS (2) at Philadelphia (6): Things in the first got a little chippy at times, but Maryland offense was on point with plenty of pressure on the Philadelphia net. Ryan Denes made some crucial saves when tested and was able to keep the game scoreless after 20 minutes of play.
The start of the second didn’t go the way Maryland wanted, as Luke Janvirya picked up a rebound off a blocked shot to get Philadelphia on the board first only 38 seconds into the frame. While Maryland pressed to get the equalizer, they would go down 2-0 when Ruslan Jamaldinov put a wrister through traffic that found the back of the net. Moments later, the Black Bears cut the lead in half with Luke Janus redirecting a Sebastien Brockman shot to make it 2-1. Scary moment, as Denes was run into by a Philadelphia player and appeared to have a lower body injury. He stayed in the game, but on the ensuing face-off, Brayton Frick put home a wrister to make it 3-1, which is where the score would sit after 40 minutes.
Maryland started the third off strong, as a tic-tac-toe passing play between Kareem El-Bashir, Isac Nielsen, and Dylan Gordon led to Gordon putting the Black Bears to within one again. Maryland would keep the pressure up, but Philadelphia would extend the lead with Nick Bianchi scoring on the rebound to make it 4-2. Denes would get pulled for Marko Bilic. Maryland would get called for a goaltender interference penalty that would lead to Ryan Bunting scoring to make it 5-2. Then things broke down, as a big scuffle at the Philadelphia net led to Bilic and Philadelphia’s Owen Crudale getting into a goalie fight– a decision to Bilic due to Crudale catching an edge and getting two rights from Bilic before the linesmen broke it up. Bunting would add an empty netter to make the final 6-2.
The Black Bears will host the New Jersey Titans in their last regular season homestand. Head to Tickets.MarylandBlackBears.com for tickets and catch the Black Bears before the playoffs.
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