The Maryland Black Bears found themselves in trouble after 20 minutes of play. They were down three goals and Benjamin Beck, who was making his NAHL debut, was pulled after one period. But the Black Bears never gave up, completing an exciting comeback to beat the Jamestown Rebels 6-5 in a shootout.
Connor Pooley got the scoring started for Maryland 4:05 into the first period. But 22 seconds later Seth Bergeron replied for Jamestown to tie it 1-1. Auggie Moore put the Rebels ahead on a rebound goal and was followed by two goals from Nick Stuckless to make the score 4-1. Benjamin Beck made 10 saves in his debut period, but was replaced by David Tomeo to start the second.
The players held a meeting after the first period, citing their play as “unacceptable,” and looked to rally in the final 40 minutes. Jack Sujishi got a goal at the end of the second period, a goal that Maryland Head Coach Clint Mylymok labeled as “huge.”
“That got (The Black Bears) knowing we can comeback,” Mylymok said, “Not thinking, knowing.”
The third period the Black Bears were rewarded three power plays in the first six minutes. While the first two were unsuccessful, Connor Pooley showed off his hand-eye coordination and batted the puck out of mid air to make it 4-3. Patrick Choi then tied the game with his first NAHL goal, tapping a Cameron Teamor rebound.
Jamestown responded with a power play goal from Lukas Uhler to make it 5-4 rebels with just over three minutes left in regulation. Maryland was awarded a power play with 1:18 to go in the third and the Black Bears capitalized. Lukas Ljungblum received a pass from Connor Pooley and one timed it in the net to tie the game to force overtime.
After another overtime that saw David Tomeo make big saves for Maryland, the game went to a shootout. Tied at two a piece heading into the bottom of the third round, it was Patrick Choi who shot low blocker side to win the game 6-5 for the Black Bears. Coach Mylymok said they stepped up their play to the level of Jamestown in the later stages of the game to win.
“They were playing simple and winning battles,” Mylymok said, “They were way more tough on along the hard areas of the ice and we just challenged them.”
The win puts Maryland at 5-5-4 on the season and third place in the East Division. The Black Bears hit the road to rematch with the New Jersey Titans October 26th and 27th and return home on November 2nd and 3rd to rematch with the Jamestown Rebels.
