JOHNSTOWN – The Johnstown Tomahawks captured another home victory on Saturday night after defeating the Maryland Black Bears by a score of 5-3.
Coming off a thrilling overtime home victory just six days ago, the Tomahawks were looking to carry over some of that excitement into the weekend series against Maryland but found themselves held without a shot on goal through almost 10 minutes of action. Maryland struck first in the contest with a goal just six minutes into play and would add another goal about ten minutes later to give them a 2-0 lead early. The Tomahawks got themselves right back in the game with a goal from Tate Pecknold, responding just 30 seconds after the second Maryland goal. The teams headed for the locker rooms with a 2-1 Maryland advantage on the scoreboard, outshooting the Tomahawks by a total of 11-4.
The second period started, and fans were treated to a barrage of action with four goals in the period all coming within a span of four minutes of game action. The Tomahawks struck first and tied the game up at two with a goal from Adam Ondris, his 9th of the season with the lone assist going to Sam Blanton. The tying goal didn’t seem to faze the Black Bears much as they recaptured the lead just two minutes later and held a 3-2 lead. Showcasing an impressive ability to bounce back after giving up a goal for the second time in the game, the Tomahawks answered back 20 seconds later with a goal from Dallas Potter notching his first NAHL goal, the assist to Dylan Shane. Hawks defenseman Lukas Klemm capped off the frenzy of goals registering his 5th of the season with the assists on the goal to Tate Pecknold and Taybor Aldrich.
Holding a 4-3 lead heading to the final 20 minutes, the Tomahawks were hungry for the next goal to feel better about a two-goal lead but did a great job not sacrificing defense for offense. The defense first mindset ended up boding well for the Tomahawks as they did get the insurance marker they were looking for when Ryan Flaherty capitalized on the power-play after a beautiful passing play with Adam Ondris and Caden Olenczak. The next seven minutes were going to be the hardest of the game, knowing that Maryland would be pressing to get themselves back into the game. In what was a stressful couple of minutes to close the game for the Tomahawks, a bunch of key blocked shots, and some key saves from Zack Ferris eventually propelled them to the 5-3 victory, hanging on to take game one of the weekend series.
The Tomahawks return to action tomorrow night for another home contest against the Maryland Blackbears. Saturday night, the puck drops at 5:00 PM at 1st Summit Arena. Head to our website, www.johnstowntomahawks.com and secure your seats now! As always stay up to date with your Johnstown Tomahawks by following us on our social media pages. Fans can watch all the action live on NATV (nahltv.com.)
By DREW P. PFEIL | drew@johnstowntomahawks.com