The Maryland Black Bears lost their second game of the weekend to Johnstown, but they managed to escape with a point in the standings. That point could be crucial with just over a month remaining in the regular season.
Just 40 seconds into the game, the Black Bears committed a too many men on the ice penalty, but they managed to kill it, a theme we would see throughout the night. Garrett Szydlowski scored the game’s first goal with a little under 5 minutes remaining in the first period and just 3 seconds later, Tristan Poissant tied the game up for the Tomahawks. In the first period, there was just one penalty and one goal for each team. Things would pick up in the 2nd.
3 minutes into the second period, Cameron Recchi scored for the Black Bears to put them up by 1. Recchi wasn’t very well received by the crowd nor the Tomahawks in his return to Johnstown. At the midway point of the period, the Tomahawks scored 2 goals in a minute to take the lead. The Black Bears didn’t do themselves any favors in the 2nd period. They committed 5 penalties including a 2 and 10 for Aden Bruich hitting a player from behind. Johnstown had 3 penalties of their own.
A few minutes into the third period, the tension between the two teams reached a breaking point when two players from each team were penalized for fighting. Thomas Jarman and a Tomahawks player were both escorted to the locker room and their night ended early. A few minutes later, Reid Leibold tied things up with a goal assisted by Brayden Stannard and Hampus Rydqvist. 3 periods were not enough to determine a winner, and the game went to overtime.
2 and a half minutes into overtime, Carson Grainer scored the game-winner for the Tomahawks and handed the Black Bears their seventh overtime loss of the season. The Black Bears will try to turn things around next weekend when they head to Jamestown to player the rebels. They will face-off on Friday, January 24th at 7:00 PM.
