Eric Fannell made a splash in his second game as a Black Bear with a four-point night, but the team was unable to complete the comeback against the Vancouver Warriors, falling by a score of 8-4.
Game breakdown
Opening the scoring for the Black Bears was Eric Fannell with his first goal as a Black Bear. Jacob Dunbar and Taggart Clark both picked up assists on Fannell’s goal, which came just 2:32 into the first quarter.
The Warriors tied the game up at 1-1 four minutes later when Adam Charalambides scored his ninth goal of the season.
Less than a minute later, Charalambides struck again with his second goal of the game to give the Warriors their first lead of the night at 2-1 with 7:52 remaining in the first quarter.
Doubling the Warriors’ lead to two was Johnathan Peshko with his fifth goal of the season at 12:36 into the opening quarter.
The remaining two minutes of the first quarter were scoreless, and saw the Black Bears head into the second quarter down 3-1.
Marcus Klarich opened the second quarter scoring with his third goal of the season just 1:25 in, giving Vancouver a 4-1 lead.
Striking early on a power play opportunity was Eric Fannell with his second goal of the game just a minute after Klarich’s goal, cutting Vancouver’s lead to 4-2. Kiel Matisz and Jeff Teat each received credit for assists on Fannell’s second goal.
First he drew the penalty, then he scored on the power play. It was Connor Kearnan with his sixth goal of the season at 7:27 into the second quarter on the power play to make it a one-goal game at 4-3. Eric Fannell and Jeff Teat both earned assists on Kearnan’s goal.
Neither team scored again for the remainder of the second quarter, and the Black Bears headed into halftime down by one at 4-3.
Ryan Martel scored just 2:27 into the third quarter to regain the two-goal lead for Vancouver, but the Black Bears were quick to challenge the goal. A brief review ensued and determined Martel’s foot made contact with the crease prior to the goal, overturning the call and keeping the score 4-3.
However, Keegan Bal got one back for Vancouver with his team-leading 16th of the season just a minute later, making it 5-3 for the Warriors.
Adam Charalambides completed his hat trick with 9:06 to play in the third quarter, extending the Warriors’ lead to 6-3.
It took just 22 seconds into a power play for the Black Bears to get one back, when Connor Kearnan buried his second goal of the game past Aden Walsh. A power play goal like his first of the game, Kearnan’s tally was once again assisted by Eric Fannell and Jeff Teat. Coming at 6:53 into the third quarter, the goal cut the Warriors’ lead to 6-4.
The Warriors struck back when Jeff Cornwall scored his third goal of the season with 1:49 remaining in the quarter to restore Vancouver’s three-goal lead.
With Cornwall’s goal late in the third, the Black Bears headed into the fourth quarter trailing by three at a score of 7-4.
Ryan Martel scored with 3:02 remaining in the fourth quarter and this one counted as he gave the Warriors an 8-4 lead with his second goal of the season.
A late push by the Black Bears was too little too late, as they were unable to complete the comeback and fell to the Warriors by a score of 8-4.
The Black Bears will be back next week on Friday, January 31 at 7:00 p.m. ET when they host the Calgary Roughnecks at home for the team’s Every Child Matters game presented by Anish Branding. Ticket’s for the game are available HERE.
