Black Bears Dominate in Inaugural Game
November 29, 2024 - National Lacrosse League (NLL)
Ottawa Black Bears News Release
It's hard to imagine a more perfect start to the Black Bears' inaugural season than an 11-5 victory over the Toronto Rock in the home opener. It was a night of two hat tricks (Jacob Dunbar and Connor Kearnan) while goalie Zach Higgins put on a show for fans.
Game breakdown
Jacob Dunbar opened the scoring with 6:15 left in the first quarter as he scored his first of the year and first goal in Black Bears' franchise history. Assists on the goal were awarded to Kiel Matisz and Jeff Teat.
With just over a minute remaining in the quarter, Kiel Matisz scored his first of the season past goalie Nick Rose to put the Black Bears up 2-0. Larson Sundown and Reed Kurtz both received assists on the goal.
Halfway through the second quarter, Connor Kearnan netted his first of the season to give the Black Bears a 3-0 lead. Jacob Dunbar earned his second point of the game alongside captain Jeff Teat who received his second assist.
With 4:01 remaining in the quarter and 27 seconds remaining in a goaltender interference penalty to Mitch de Snoo, Jacob Dunbar scored his second goal of the season and third point of the game on the power play.
As the clock wound down for the first half, the Black Bears headed into halftime up by 4-0, in large part thanks to the clinic put on by goalie Zach Higgins, who made several impressive saves to keep the Rock off the board.
Less than five minutes into the third quarter, the Black Bears struck again as Taggart Clark went top shelf. The play went under review for crease violation. After a lengthy review, the call on the floor stood and Taggart Clark scored his first goal of the season to put the team up 5-0. The lone assist on his goal went to Jacob Dunbar.
With 9:51 remaining in the third quarter, the Rock got their first of the game as Latrell Harris scored for Toronto, his first of the season.
Just over two minutes later, the Rock struck again to cut the Black Bears' lead to 5-2 off Brian Cameron's first career NLL goal.
The Black Bears wasted no time on their next power play opportunity, when Connor Kearnan scored his second goal of the game just 11 seconds into the penalty. Jeff Teat earned the lone assist, his third of the game, on Kearnan's goal that put the Black Bears up 6-3.
With 5:16 left in the quarter, the Black Bears extended their lead to 7-2 as Reilly O'Connor scored his first goal of the season. Jacob Dunbar and Jeff Teat continued their impressive showings as they both picked up assists on O'Connor's goal.
It was raining goals, as with 4:44 left in the quarter captain Jeff Teat scored his first goal of the season and fifth point of the game that put the Black Bears up 8-2. Taggart Clark earned his second point of the night with the lone assist on Teat's goal.
With just 23.7 seconds left in the third quarter, Jacob Dunbar ripped his third goal of the game past goalie Nick Rose, giving the Black Bears a 9-2 lead late in the quarter and earning himself a hat trick. Connor Kearnan and Kiel Matisz each picked up an assist on Dunbar's sixth point of the night.
To rub salt in the wound, with less than a second on the clock, it was back-to-back hat tricks as Connor Kearnan scored his third goal of the game as the Black Bears reached double digits with a 10-2 lead. Reilly O'Connor and Taggart Clark both earned assists on the buzzer-beater goal.
Down but not out, the Rock struck back with 11:53 remaining in the game as they scored the first goal of the fourth quarter. Chris Bouchy netted his first of the season to make it 10-3 Black Bears.
The Rock doubled down when their scored their fourth goal of the game with 7:38 remaining in the game. It was Mitch de Snoo with his first of the season to make things 10-4.
With 3:01 left in the game, Reilly O'Connor was gifted a wide-open net to score second his of the game and put the Black Bears up 11-4. John LaFontaine and Callum Jones both picked up assists on the goal.
With less than a minute left in the game, Toronto scored their fifth of the game off a shorthanded goal by Josh Dawick, his first of the game.
Following an illegal substitution by the Black Bears, Toronto was awarded a penalty shot with 22.3 left to play. Mark Matthews stepped up for the attempt, but it was no goal as he shot wide to keep the score at 11-5.
It was too little, too late for the Rock in their comeback attempt, as the Black Bears won in dominant fashion by a score of 11-5 in their inaugural game. Zach Higgins stopped 38 of the 43 shots he faced in a dominant performance.
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National Lacrosse League Stories from November 29, 2024
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