Teat Stars Again; Depth Powers Black Bears to Comeback Win in Oshawa
NLL Ottawa Black Bears

Teat Stars Again; Depth Powers Black Bears to Comeback Win in Oshawa

Published on January 3, 2026 under National Lacrosse League (NLL)
Ottawa Black Bears News Release


The Black Bears improved to over .500 for the first time this season after a comeback win in Oshawa spurred by scoring up and down the lineup.

Jeff Teat led all Black Bears with 10 points (three goals, seven assists), but eight other players found the net in the win. Larson Sundown scored four goals, while local products Reilly O'Connor and Connor Kearnan added two each. Rob Hellyer, Reed Kurtz, Jacob Dunbar, Kevin Brownell, and Sam Firth all added goals of their own.

The scoring all began late in the first quarter, after former Black Bear Taggart Clark cross-checked Luc Magnan in the face on a pick, earning himself a five-minute major penalty. Sundown and O'Connor's firsts of the night levelled an early Oshawa lead on the power play.

The Black Bears would then kill off a 5-on-3 - which was divided by a FireWolves penalty shot - part of a penalty kill that would limit the FireWolves' power play to 2-of-6 on the night.

Four lead changes followed, as neither team earned a larger lead than three (Oshawa, in the third quarter). The Black Bears stuck with a back-and-forth game and came away with their second win in a row.

"We thought we were fighting a lot of adversity out there tonight," said head coach Dan MacRae after the game.

"A lot of things weren't going our way that we maybe should have. So really give the guys a lot of credit for sticking with it. We knew that our offence was just grinding them down. We knew that they had two weeks off. They were going to come out with a lot of energy in the first quarter and that's what happened. But credit to these guys, man, for just trusting the process and sticking with it. That took a full team effort to do it."

Dunbar's goal was his first of the season, Firth's ensured every forward had at least one, and defenders Kevin Brownell and Reed Kurtz - who's solo effort following a faceoff win pushed Ottawa within one in the fourth - underscoring the success of the depth of the team on Saturday.

"Everybody's got to contribute, right? We can't have any passengers," said MacRae. "On the D end, I thought our best maybe weren't our best all night long, so the guys in the 8, 9, 10 spot on the depth chart were putting in some great minutes for us. So 100 per cent, it took every guy on the roster tonight."

Coming into the game, there was no expectation that the Black Bears would equal the 16 goals they potted against Philadelphia a week prior considering FireWolves netminder Doug Jamison entering the game sporting a .832 save percentage and 7.99 goals-against average.

"Yeah, we made that a focus point in our shooting the last couple of weeks, and I give a lot of credit to [goaltending coach] Angus Dinely and

Bennett Drake for putting together some great scouting reports and clips on their goaltenders," said MacRae.

"And then credit to the guys for shooting that, trusting it and executing on it. So yeah, full credit all the way down."

Teat now leads the NLL with 40 points through five games. That puts the forward on pace to surpass his previous career high of 136 points and Dhane Smith's NLL record 137. Despite that historic start on offence, it was the defensive end that MacRae was keen on recognizing after the game.

"Yeah, what can you say?" pondered the first-year head coach and former teammate of Teat.

"He's helping us kill penalties, he was on [that] 5-on-3 penalty kill. He's on the faceoff line, getting loose balls, so I don't know what he can't do. We're going to figure it out, but I won't be surprised if we don't figure it out. He's unbelievable."

This year, the Black Bears will play four Friday home games and five Saturday home games from November to April.

Next up at home is a Friday meeting with Halifax on Jan. 9 at Canadian Tire Centre, where the Black Bears are celebrating the Creator's Game Night.

You can view the team's entire schedule here, purchase Season Seats here, and Single Game tickets here.

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National Lacrosse League Stories from January 3, 2026


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.

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