JOHNSTOWN, PA– With the East Division regular season title in their sight, the Maryland Black Bears travelled to western PA to take on the Johnstown Tomahawks in hopes of winning all eight match-ups against Johnstown on the year. While it took some grit and depth, the Black Bears came out of the weekend with four points and a division titles.
FRIDAY MARCH 13th, 2026: BLACK BEARS (5) at Johnstown (4): It was a neutral zone battle in the first part of the first period, neither team wanting to give up much. Maryland would go on the penalty kill early, but that would allow them to strike first with Sam Osei getting his third of the season thanks to a great pass from Robby Glentz and a solid forecheck from Daniel Johnson to make it 1-0 on a shorthanded goal. Maryland would keep the pressure going with a couple of power play attempts, but could not find the back of the net. Johnstown would tie the game with Nick Jarmain getting behind the defense to tie the game up with 25 seconds left in the first.
The Black Bears would be on a major power play to start the second period with a Johnstown player getting a five-and-game for coming off the bench and entering a scrum at the end of the first period. While they had issues in the first 4:35, they were able to notch two goals in 20 seconds. First, Owen Drury continues his roll with his 14th of the year from a great pass from Harrison Smith to make it 2-1. Then, 20 seconds later, Josh Frenette connects for his 13th of the year after a board battle win by Drury and a centering pass from Liam Doherty to make 3-1 and to notch two power play goals in the extended power play. Maryland would get another power play in the middle of the frame, when Kris Krumins connected on his 11th of the year off a nice give-and-go from Brayden Wade to make it 4-1 for Maryland. Johnstown would get one back with Kirby Perler scoring off a faceoff play to make it 4-2. With tempers flaring up and missed calls on both sides of the puck, things boiled over and Maryland went on a five minute penalty kill at the end of the second and into the third.
Ryan Denes showed off his guile with big saves to help kill off the rest of the major penalty kill, as well as killing off another penalty in the early going. Their first sustained attack, Maryland converted with Trey Hinton getting a great setup feed from Ryan Franks to make it 5-2 on Hinton’s 14th of the season. After penalty trouble of their own, Johnstown would make it 5-3 as Jack Sullivan weaved through the defense and got his eighth of the season. After a missed call late, Johnstown scored with Nick Jarmain making it 5-4, but that’s as close as it would get.
With that win, the Black Bears clinched the East Division regular season title, as well as setting the team’s regular season win mark with their 42nd win of the year. Ryan Denes also tied William Hakansson for most regular season wins in a single season with his 25th win of the campaign.
SATURDAY MARCH 14th, 2026: BLACK BEARS (4) at Johnstown (2): After a spirited end to the game, the start of Saturday’s affair went without much incident on the physicality and penalty side of things. The Black Bears opened the scoring close to the midway point with Sokratis Markarian netting his fifth of the year after Logan Deuling pulled the puck out of a scrum and found Markarian in the slot for the one-timer. Maryland dominated the offensive zone time, putting 11 shots up in the first. However, with 1:43 left Johnstown tied it up after a bad turnover from the Maryland defense led to a Ben Norris goal to make it 1-1 after one.
The first official bout of the weekend was early in the second as Deuling got cross-checked in the face and stuck up for himself to take down William Stewart for the decision. Maryland would get their lead back 6:02 into the period with Josh Frenette putting home his 14th after a solid passing play from the breakout to the goal light to make it 2-1 Maryland. The offense continued to pressure the net, but couldn’t find another insurance goal. The defense for Maryland settled down in the second, keeping any threat to the outside and letting Dom Gatto see most of the pucks to keep it 2-1 through two periods of play.
Maryland would extend their lead early in the third with Tanner Duncan netting his 27th of the year from a great pass by Harrison Smith to make it 3-1 for Maryland. That goal gave Duncan points in his last 28 games played. While Maryland kept the offensive pace up, they couldn’t extend the lead. Johnstown would score with almost six minutes left with Jack Sullivan scoring on a seeing-eye shot to make it a 3-2 game. Johnstown tried to make a late push, but Brayden Wade would get a loose puck and put it into the open net to give Maryland the 4-2 win and take all eight games against Johnstown this season.
The Black Bears are on the road for a St. Patrick’s Day meeting against the New Jersey Titans on Tuesday. Puck drop is 7 PM in New Jersey with the action on NAHL TV or the the Chesepiooc Real Ale Brewery watch party.
Clutch And Crab Hockey 