The Black Bears scored six straight as they fought to make a comeback, but were unable to secure the win as they fell to the Halifax Thunderbirds by a score of 14-9. Larson Sundown and Jeff Teat both recorded hat tricks, while Kiel Matisz had a four-assist outing.
Game breakdown
The Thunderbirds opened the scoring at 4:23 into the first quarter when Ryan Terefenko scored his 12th goal of the season to put Halifax up 1-0.
Larson Sundown tied things back up at 1-1 for the Black Bears when he scored his 12th goal of the season at 4:56 in the quarter. Coming on the power play, Sundown’s goal was assisted by Connor Kearnan and Reilly O’Connor.
Scoring at 5:36 to restore the Thunderbird’s lead was Colton Armstrong with his fourth goal of the season.
Jeff Teat found the back of the net with 7:49 to play, but the goal was immediately waved off for crease violation. A review ensued, but the call stood and there was no goal.
Doubling the Thunderbirds’ lead with 7:26 to play was Randy Staats with his 14th goal of the season, making it 3-1.
Following the first quarter, the Black Bears found themselves down 3-1.
Connor Kearnan got the Black Bears back within one with his 10th goal of the season and second point of the night. Opening the second quarter scoring just 1:10 in, the goal was assisted by Jacob Dunbar and Kiel Matisz, the former making an impressive passing play to set Kearnan up.
The Thunderbirds regained their two-goal lead with 8:30 to play in the second quarter when Clarke Petterson scored his 16th goal of the season to make it 4-2 for Halifax.
Randy Staats doubled down for his second goal of the game with 6:29 to play in the second, extending Halifax’s lead to three.
Less than two minutes later, Staats scored again to complete the hat trick, making it 6-2 for the Thunderbirds.
Ryan Terefenko got his second of the night with 1:59 remaining in the first half to make it 7-2.
Reilly O’Connor got one back for the Black Bears with just 32 seconds remaining in the quarter. The goal marked O’Connor’s fifth of the season and came on the power play, assisted by Kiel Matisz and Jeff Teat.
After the first half, the Black Bears found themselves down 7-3, trailing 33-21 in shots.
Just like in the first quarter, Larson Sundown opened the scoring in the third. His second of the game and 13th of the season, Sundown was assisted by Reed Kurtz just 2:28 into the third.
Only 40 seconds later, Sundown completed the hat trick to make it 7-5, cutting the Thunderbirds’ lead to two. Jeff Teat and Jake Stevens both picked up assists on the goal, Sundown’s 14th of the season.
Making it a one-goal game was Jeff Teat, scoring his 20th goal of the season at 4:25 into the third quarter. Teat’s goal came assisted by Reilly O’Connor and made it just 7-6 for Halifax.
Tying things up with 8:23 to go in the third quarter was Jeff Teat once again with his second of the night and second straight. Evening things up at 7-7, Teat’s goal was assisted by Jacob Dunbar and Taggart Clark.
Giving the Black Bears their first lead of the game with the team’s sixth-straight goal was Jacob Dunbar who scored his team-leading 21st goal of the season with 2:06 to play in the third quarter. Kiel Matisz and Matt Marinier each picked up an assist on Dunbar’s goal.
Tying it back up for the Thunderbirds was Dawson Theede who scored his 19th goal of the season with 1:05 left in the third.
The Thunderbirds regained their lead with just over a second left in the quarter when Clarke Petterson scored his second of the game.
After a strong third quarter, the Black Bears found themselves in the thick of things down by just one heading into the final frame.
The Thunderbirds opened the fourth quarter scoring to double their lead to two with Randy Staats’ fourth goal of the game at 2:33 into the quarter.
Adding another for the Thunderbirds was Dawson Theede with 7:21 to play, his second of the game making it 11-8.
Jeff Teat completed a hat trick of his own with 5:15 remaining in the game to cut the Thunderbirds’ lead to 11-9. Coming on the power play, Teat’s third of the night was assisted by Connor Kearnan and Kiel Matisz on the power play.
The Thunderbirds didn’t let the two goal lead sit for long, as they added another with 3:23 to play with a goal from Nonkon Thompson.
Into the empty net, Ryan Terefenko scored his third of the game for a hat trick with 2:22 remaining, putting the Thunderbirds up 13-9.
The Thunderbirds added one more for good measure with 11 seconds remaining in the game to secure a 14-9 win.
The Black Bears will return to play at home next week on Friday, February 28 when the Georgia Swarm come to town at 7:00 p.m. ET. The game will mark the team’s final Friday home game of the season, so don’t miss out! Tickets to the game are available HERE for purchase.
