Sports stats



NAHL Maryland Black Bears

Maryland Storms Back to Beat Maine in Overtime to Win Season Opener

September 13, 2024 - North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Maryland Black Bears News Release


The Maryland Black Bears opened its season by raising its 2023-2024 East Division regular and postseason banners against the team they edged out to win both, the Maine Nordiques. After falling behind 2-0 in the second period, Maryland put home back-to-back goals to force overtime where forward Kareem El-Bashir scored on a wrist shot to win the game 3-2 for the Black Bears.

After a hard-hitting but scoreless first period, Maine started the scoring in the second period with a powerplay goal from forward Shane Kozlina, who took a pass from behind the net in the slot from forward Ethan Wongus and snapped it under the arm of Maryland goaltender Benji Motew to make it 1-0. Later in the frame, the Nordiques went back to the powerplay where forward Emil Tavernier scored on a one-time slap shot from the near circle to make it 2-0.

Maryland responded later in the second period with a four-on-four goal from forward Trey Hinton, who snapped the puck through a screen that went five-hole on Maine goaltender Mathew DellaRusso to make it 2-1. 55 seconds later on the powerplay, it was Black Bears' forward Markas Samenas from the top of the near circle sending a wrist shot to the top right corner for a 2-2 tie. After some big stops by Motew in the final minutes of the third period, the score remained 2-2 through 60 minutes of regulation time to head to overtime with each team securing its first point of the season. In the extra session, it was El Bashir receiving a pass from forward Harrison Smith in the neutral zone. El Bashir skated into the offensive zone on the near side and sent a wrist shot to the top left corner past DellaRusso to secure a 3-2 Maryland win. Motew made 26 saves in his Black Bears debut while DellaRusso made 15 saves for the Nordiques in the loss.

Maryland and Maine rematch on Saturday, September 14th at 7:00 p.m. ET at Piney Orchard Ice Arena. All games can be streamed on NAHLTV.

Check out the Maryland Black Bears Statistics

• Discuss this story on the North American Hockey League message board...

North American Hockey League Stories from September 13, 2024


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central