Despite trailing 4 – 1 midway through the second period, the Rebels roared back to score four unanswered goals to defeat the visiting Maryland Black Bears 5 – 4 in game one of this two-game series.
Max Marquette had two goals to help lead the comeback.
Maryland’s Jeremi Tremblay gave the visitors a 1 – 0 lead with 8:21 remaining in the opening period. With the puck in the Rebels near side corner, Julian Brown went to skate behind his own net, but Tremblay stripped him off the puck in front of the Rebels net and Tremblay slid the puck through the five hole of an unsuspecting Lukas Fursten and into the net for Tremblay’s fourteenth goal of the season.
The Black Bears doubled their lead with 1:57 left in the first. Maryland’s Trayce Johnson brought the puck from behind his own net and up through the neutral zone. Before entering the offensive end, he passed the biscuit to Luke Janus on his right. As Janus gained the line, he skated to the inside of the faceoff circle and took a wrist shot that beat Fursten high, glove side.
At 2:38 into the middle stanza, Maryland’s Raymond Perrault received a roughing call to give the Rebels the man advantage. A minute and six seconds later Charles Panchisin put the Rebels on the board. With play in the Black Bears near side corner, the puck went back to Luke deVries at the point who passed it over to Otto Polakovs on his left at the top of the far side faceoff circle. Polakovs passed the biscuit to Jared Coccimiglio in the slot. With a Maryland defender draped on his back, Coccimiglio made a backhanded pass to Panchisin on his right and Panchisin redirected the biscuit past Maryland’s goaler Mason Joseph for Panchisin’s third goal in the past two games.
Maryland regained their two-goal lead just forty-six seconds later. After the Black Bears Riley Ruh won the draw deep inside the Rebels zone, Keaton Lipsett push the puck back to Evan Sofikitis at the top of the point. Sofikitis took a wrist shot that was redirected out front by Ruh and past Fursten to make it a 3 – 1 contest.
With 10:14 remaining in the second, Maryland’s Adam Schankula made it 4 – 1. As Schankula entered the offensive zone along the far side boards, he took an angle shot from below the hash marks that went off Fursten’s stick and into the back of the net to give the visitors what was thought to be a commanding three-goal lead.
Jack Fialkoff replaced Fursten between the pipes.
With 7:34 left in the middle stanza, Marquette started the comeback. deVries picked up the loose puck in his own zone and made a long stretch pass up to Marquette who entered the offensive zone on a breakaway. As he reached the bottom of the far side faceoff circle, Marquette took a wrist shot that beat Joseph high blocker side to cut the Rebels deficit in half.
At 3:49 into the third Josh Galizia brought the Rebels within one on a nice backdoor goal. Marquette brought the puck into the offensive zone and as he went towards the top of the far side circle, he dropped the puck to deVries who made a cross-ice pass down low to Galizia who slammed the biscuit just inside the near side post for Galizia’s second goal of the season.
Three minutes later Brown tied the game. Brown brought the puck up from his own goal line, through center ice and into the offensive zone along the near side boards. As he started to circle behind the Maryland net, he went to make a centering pass out front, but the puck hit off the skate of a Black Bear defender and redirected past Joseph and into the net.
With 9:34 remaining in the period, Billy Sheridan was called for hooking to put the visitors on the man advantage.
Prior to scoring the game winning goal, Marquette had a chance to put the Rebels out front at the 9:09 mark of the third when he was awarded a penalty shot but was denied by Joseph.
With time winding down on Maryland’s powerplay, Brock Jones intercepted a Black Bear pass at his own blue line and skated through center ice and into the offensive zone. As Jones reached the slot, he made a backhanded saucer pass to Marquette who batted down the puck and into the net to give the Rebels the lead and win at 5 – 4.
Fursten and Fialkoff combined to stop 37 of 41 shots while Joseph turned aside 25 of 30. Click here for the complete box score.
