The Johnstown Tomahawks defeated the Maryland Black Bears Friday night in Johnstown by a final score of 3-1.
The 1st period started off with Brendan Clark receiving a tripping penalty only three minutes into the game. The Tomahawks killed off the penalty with ease, going back to full strength. Newly acquired forward William Persson made his presence known very early into the game and it paid off as he opened the scoring for the night, getting on the board in his first game with the Hawks 9:07 into the game. Johnstown’s Holt Oliphant and Maryland’s Luke Mountain traded penalties in the back half of the period but neither team converted on their power play opportunities, sending both sides to the locker room with the Hawks ahead by one.
Maryland’s Tanner Rowe found the back of the net early for the Black Bears tying things up at 1 only 3:23 into the 2nd period, putting some pressure on the Hawks early. Thirty seconds later though, forward Garrett Szydlowski headed to the box for slashing, putting things back in Johnstown’s favor as the head to the power play. Maryland killed off the penalty and stayed at full strength until Aidan McDowell was called for slashing 13:13 into the period. The Tomahawks power play got right back at it as Holt Oliphant netted his sixth goal of the season to regain the lead at 2-1. Maryland’s Josh Waters got sent to the box for tripping with a penalty that would carry over into the 3rd period, giving the Tomahawks some time on the man-advantage to start the 3rd period.
The Tomahawks didn’t convert on the power play to open the period, but John Gelatt started the period off for the Tomahawks with his 17th goal of the season to make it 3-1 Hawks 1:42 into the 3rd period. A few minutes later, things started to get rowdy as there were five penalties called 6:11 into the period, one being a five-minute boarding major to Jay Ahearn. The penalty left the Black Bears with a lengthy power play, but the Tomahawks successfully killed off the penalty with no scoring change coming from the penalties. The game became physical as the period went on with tension building between the two teams, but the score would remain 3-1 Hawks as the clock ran out.
The Tomahawks face off against the Black Bears again tomorrow night for game two of the weekend series at 1ST SUMMIT ARENA. Get your tickets online at Ticketmaster.com.