It was close but not close enough for the Vancouver Warriors as the Ottawa Black Bears won their second straight game. Larson Sundown recorded his second hat trick in as many games, while Jeff Teat had a six-point night, Kiel Matisz had a five-point night, and Zach Higgins made 41 saves in goal.
GAME BREAKDOWN
Kiel Matisz opened the scoring just 2:07 into the game on the power play to give the Black Bears an early 1-0 with his fourth goal of the season. Connor Kearnan and Jeff Teat both picked up assists on the opening goal.
The Warriors tied things back up at 1-1 three minutes later when Owen Grant scored his seventh goal of the season.
Larson Sundown gave the Black Bears their lead back with his fifth goal of the season at 7:31 into the quarter. Assisted by Kiel Matisz, the goal put the Black Bears up 2-1.
Tying the game once more were the Warriors, as Riley Loewen scored his second goal of the season with 5:39 remaining in the first quarter.
The Warriors got their first lead of the game a minute later when Kevin Crowley scored his seventh of the season to put Vancouver up 3-2.
Tying the game up at 3-3 just two minutes into the second quarter was Jacob Dunbar with his team-leading 14th goal of the season. The goal, which came shorthanded, was assisted by Kevin Brownell and Brent Noseworthy.
The Warriors regained their lead at 4-3 when scored his Riley Loewen second of the game at 6:20 into the quarter.
Diving from behind the net to tie the game at four on the power play was Larson Sundown with his second goal of the game. Jeff Teat and Kiel Matisz each picked up an assist on the goal, which came at 7:41 into the second quarter.
Sundown wasn’t done there, as he completed the hat trick just over a minute later to give the Black Bears a 5-4 lead. Like his last, Sundown’s goal came on the power play. Newly acquired Eric Fannell picked up his first point as a Black Bear with an assist on the go-ahead goal, while Jeff Teat earned up his third assist of the game.
Playing the copycat was Riley Loewen as he completed a hat trick of his own to tie the game once more at 5-5 with 2:17 remaining in the quarter.
After the first two quarters, the game was tied 5-5, with the Black Bears holding a slight edge in shots at 23-22.
Following a scoreless first 11 minutes to the third quarter, captain Jeff Teat scored his 12th goal of the season to give the Black Bears a 6-5 lead with 4:09 to go in the third quarter. Jacob Dunbar and Kiel Matisz both received credit for assists on Teat’s goal.
Continuing his red-hot scoring streak, Larson Sundown doubled the Black Bears lead to 7-5 just 19 seconds later. Matt Marinier and John LaFontaine each picked up assists on Sundown’s fourth goal of the game.
With just 45 seconds left in the quarter, Jeff Teat dunked his second goal of the game into the back of the net to extend the Black Bears’ lead to three at 8-5. Connor Kearnan picked up the lone assist on Teat’s goal, his second of the game.
A beautiful passing play saw Taggart Clark score his of the season to open the scoring in the fourth quarter at 5:49 into the final frame. The goal gave the Black Bears a four-goal lead of 9-5, with assists going to Jeff Teat and Kiel Matisz.
The Warriors got one back just under two minutes later when Kevin Crowley scored his second of the game with 7:27 to go, putting the score at 9-6.
Striking again at 10:53 were the Warriors, cutting the Black Bears’ lead to two with a goal from Reid Bowering with his fifth of the season.
With just 2:09 remaining, it became a one-goal game when Keegan Bal scored his team-leading 13th goal of the season to make things 9-8.
With the net empty, the Warriors made a late push to tie the game, but Zach Higgins and the defence stood tall to keep the lead late. When the buzzer rang, the Black Bears emerged victorious by a score of 9-8.
The Black Bears will be back next week for a rematch against the Warriors on the road in Vancouver. The game kicks off at 10:00 p.m. ET.
