JOHNSTOWN – The Johnstown Tomahawks defeated the Kenai River Brown Bears 3-1 Sunday afternoon at the Cambria County War Memorial Arena.
Johnstown didn’t take long to find the back of the net as Nick Bruce scored just 26 seconds into the opening frame to give Johnstown the early 1-0 lead. Samuel Solensky netted the lone assist on Bruce’s tenth of the season.
The Tomahawks gained momentum after killing a five-minute major penalty to defenseman Brandon Young.
After the Tomahawks came up empty on several scoring chances, the Brown Bears captalized on the missed opportunities.
Jon Marzec scored a power play goal at 17:03 of the first period to knot the score at 1-1.
Johnstown kept pushing the pace of the game and broke through the 1-1 tie when Hayden Rowan deflected a point shot from Daniil Bokun behind Brown Bears netminder Robbie Goor. Thomas Horn picked up the secondary helper on Rowan’s sixth of the season.
Rowan chipped in another goal, this time via the empty cage to set the final score at 3-1.
Purpura stopped 15 of 16 Kenai River shots en route to his seventh victory of the year. His record improved to 7-2-0.
The Tomahawks are back on home ice Friday, Jan. 20 for Face-Off Against Cancer Night presented by Conemaugh Health System against the New Jersey Titans. For tickets, call 1-800-745-3000, order online at Ticketmaster.com or visit the War Memorial Box Office.