Black Bears best Wolves on ASHA Night

By Cole Parenti 

Binghamton NY - The Binghamton Black Bears and Watertown Wolves squared off at the Visions Veterans Memorial Arena for the first of two meetings this weekend. The Black Bears celebrated the American Special Hockey Association (ASHA) by donning specialty jerseys for the contest.

In front of a sellout crowd, Connor Smith would get the Black Bears party started early as he scored his 5th goal in two games at 1:06 of the first period. The Wolves would then answer with two straight goals of their own as Marc Bottero found the back of the net at 2:21. Then his line-mate Chase DiBari doubled the Wolves lead about a minute later as he beat the Black Bear net-minder Nolan Egbert at 3:30.

The second period saw a different pace than the first as the ice seemed to open up for both sides. Binghamton’s rookie Stephen Gerbis would score the equalizer as he deflected his first professional goal at 2:45 in the second period. Andrew Logar would convert on the power play at 15:32. This gave the Black Bears their first lead since the opening four minutes of the contest and sent them to the third period up by one.

The Black Bears lead would not last long into the third as Trevor Lord tied the game at :39. Binghamton responded at 3:47 when the captain, Tyson Kirkby, deflected a shot from the blue line past Eloi Bouchard. Then Austin Thompson would put the finishing touches on the game as he scored twice in 17 seconds leading the Black Bears to a 6-3 victory.

The Black Bears improve to 7-1-0-0 against Watertown, win their 4th straight at home, and continue to grow their lead in the Empire division. Nolan Egbert finished with 25 saves on 28 shots while the Watertown goaltender Eloi Bouchard stopped 36 of the shots 40 he saw.

These same two teams face off again tomorrow night inside the Visions Veterans Memorial Arena at 7pm. It is not too late to secure your seat! Visit binghamtonblackbears.com/single-game-tickets to purchase online or by stopping by the box office. 

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