FAIRPORT, NY– In their last trip of the regular season to upstate New York, the Maryland Black Bears took on the Rochester Jr. Americans, who were on a seven-game win streak coming into this weekend. While Maryland would drop a heartbreaker on Friday, they came back with a vengeance on Saturday to split the weekend and take first place in the East Division.
Photo Credits : James Harding (TheArtOfPictures) & Jon Pitonzo (Face Off Hockey Show Media Faction)
FRIDAY FEBRUARY 16th, 2024: BLACK BEARS (0) at Rochester (2): Plenty of action in the first frame, with Rochester getting their legs underneath themselves quickly, but Owen Lepak came up big for the Black Bears in the early going with solid goaltending to keep Rochester off the scoresheet. After the media timeout, the Black Bears offense started to get some consistency and used a power play to create solid chances for themselves, but could not find the back of the net, entering the first intermission in a scoreless tie.
The Black Bears started the second period with a two-man advantage, but couldn’t get any goals on the board. While they did start to control the pace of play in the second, penalties started to creep up on Maryland. The penalty kill was solid and Lepak made crucial saves on the PK to keep his sheet clean. Through 40, the score was still knotted at zeroes.
Continued back and forth to start the third, including swapping of power plays. However, at the midway point of the period, Rochester broke the ice with Luca Leighton scoring on a third-chance attempt to make it 1-0. Maryland pressured the Rochester net and created plenty of scoring chances, but couldn’t find the equalizer. With Lepak pulled, Alex Zakrzewski put the puck into the open net to make it 2-0 Rochester, which would be the final.
SATURDAY FEBRUARY 17th, 2024: BLACK BEARS (3) at Rochester (2): Rochester continued their push from the end of Friday’s game with a quick goal to start the game with Michael Sandruck getting a cross-ice pass that he tapped into the net for the early 1-0 lead. Maryland couldn’t convert on their early power play, which turned into a chance for Rochester, that Owen Lepak came up big on. However, on the ensuing face-off, Adam Gionta one-timed a shot in the slot off a set play to make it 2-0 for Rochester. The Black Bears kept their legs going and would get one on the board with Sam Stitz picking off a clearing attempt and wristing home his fifth of the season. Maryland picked up their offensive chances through the rest of the period, but couldn’t find the equalizer.
Maryland continued their pressure to start the second period, but trading off penalties from both squads would stall the chances from either side of the ice. The Black Bears would equalize the score with Kareem El-Bashir putting home a one-timer off a great pass from Dylan Gordon to level the score at two all. While Maryland would continue their pressure, they couldn’t find the go-ahead goal before the end of the second period.
Sensing a turning tide, the Black Bears kept the possession on their end and created plenty of chances going their way. The power play was finally able to break through on the weekend, as Matthew Croxall one-timed a shot from the slot the bounced over Florian Wade’s glove and into the net to give Maryland their first lead of the weekend. Both sides traded power plays throughout the third, but the both sides were able to kill off their penalties. The Black Bears would hold onto to the lead thanks to the solid blocking in front and key saves from Owen Lepak to split the weekend.
The Black Bears are back home next weekend to take on the New Hampshire Mountain Kings. Tickets are available at Tickets.MarylandBlackBears.com with limited walk-up availability at the Piney Orchard Ice Arena box office.
Write up courtesy of Scott Wasilewski
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