Perfect Split in Rochester Goes the Distance

Sports stats



NAHL Maryland Black Bears

Perfect Split in Rochester Goes the Distance

January 4, 2025 - North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Maryland Black Bears News Release


FAIRPORT, NY- It was a heavyweight battle to start the new year for the Maryland Black Bears, as they took on the division leading Rochester Jr. Americans to kick off the 2025 portion of the schedule. In a battle of the top teams, the Black Bears and Rochester dogged it out and both got three points on the weekend with both games going to a shootout.

FRIDAY JANUARY 3rd, 2025: BLACK BEARS (3) at Rochester (2) SO: Some familiar faces returned to the line-up with Tyler Stern, Luke Janus, and Benji Motew getting back into the line-up, while Matthew Croxall returned back to Maryland after a stint in the BCHL earlier this season. Motew was tested plenty on the first period, as the Black Bears were on the penalty kill three times in the first frame. While Motew looked solid, the Rochester power play was the difference in the first with Adam Gionta netting his 12th of the year with only 14 seconds left in the period to make it a 1-0 scoreline going into the first intermission.

Maryland couldn't connect on an early power play, but Rochester was able to tally on theirs, as Jaden Dyke powered to the front of the net to make it 2-0 Rochester. Motew kept the Black Bears in this game after that, making some tough saves through traffic to keep it a 2-0 game. After the media timeout, the Black Bears offense woke up, as Isac Nielsen scored his 11th of the year off a great breakout and transition through the zones to make it a 2-1 deficit. While the power play couldn't connect on two chances late in the frame, Sebastien Brockman made up for it, coming off the bench and taking a turnover from Rochester and hammering it to the back of the net for his fourth of the year to tie the game up heading into the second intermission.

Looking to build off the late goal, Maryland's power play was put to work early, but they couldn't find the go-ahead goal. Nor did they find it on the second power play of the period. Down at the other end, Motew continued to play strong in net and kept the game tied at the end of regulation to secure Maryland at least one point on the night.

The overtime period looked like the wild west with end-to-end action and limited stoppage from the officials. Neither team could score in the extra five minutes, so it went to a shootout. Riley Fast scored on the first shot of the shootout while Motew shut the door on all three Rochester shooters to get the extra point and a Friday victory.

SATURDAY JANUARY 4th, 2025: BLACK BEARS (2) at Rochester (3) SO: Another addition to the line-up, as Owen Drury made his Black Bears debut. Maryland tried to get some offensive chances early in the first, but couldn't get much into the danger zones to start. Rochester was able to get onto their own attack, using the media timeout to start their push. It would pay off late, as Liam Chapman scored his third of the year off a Black Bears defender to allude Benji Motew to make it 1-0 Rochester. Maryland tried to get something going off the goal-against, but ran out of time in the period to get the equalizer.

The second frame was very wide-open, with the referees letting the teams play it out. Maryland had a little more sustainable pressure, but couldn't find a shot that they liked. Some turnovers from miscommunications put the pressure on Motew, but Benji came up big in the clutch to keep it a one-goal game after 40 minutes.

Rochester started the period on the power play after a carryover, but after the time expired, Calle Karlsson put home his 15th of the year off a pass out of the corner to make it 2-0 Rochester. Maryland started to crawl back, gaining some offensive zone time; which paid off with Tanner Duncan notching his fifth of the season by poking in a loose puck across the line to get the Black Bears to within one. The Black Bears were able to keep the offensive zone time steady, but needed time to be able to get the equalizer. That came with under three minutes to go, as Duncan scored again from the slot and despite the Rochester goalie knocking the goal off the pegs again, the goal counted to tie the game. A couple more rushes for both sides yielded nothing, which led to another overtime game.

Overtime solved nothing, despite good chances neither team scored, pushing it to a shootout. Maryland was able to push it to extra frames with Matthew Croxall scoring in the third round- but Rochester got the go-ahead goal to win it 3-2.

The Black Bears return home for next weekend, as they welcome the New Hampshire Mountain Kings. Get your tickets for the weekend at Tickets.MarylandBlackBears.com or the Piney Orchard Ice Arena box office.

Write up courtesy of Scott Wasilewski

found on Twitter X : @DefendingDenMBB & Spotify : Face Off Hockey Show Podcast

Check out the Maryland Black Bears Statistics

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

North American Hockey League Stories from January 4, 2025


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