Bears 9 Panthers 8

goldenstateservicesj
Mar 7, 2018
3 min read

Panther Field was a cauldron of emotion, play and weather. The home team was READY; they were clearly motivated by the 2017 loss to Landon (4-8) in a successful 15-5 season, by the enthusiastic home crowd and their “Mission to Create Special Memories to Last a Lifetime” expectations for 2018. Their roster includes players committed to JHU, OSU, Dartmouth, Bryant, Lafayette, UMBC, VMI, Trinity and Dennison.

The visiting team took the lead with the first goal on a beautiful pass from Joey Epstein to John Geppert @ 9:23. The middie fired straight on from about 10 yards for a zinger in the corner; 1-0. The Panthers got two successive tallies, but as the first period began to expire Garrett Kurtz beat his man and the PVI goal for the Bears @1:36.

After 12:00, Mitch Laughlin had two saves and Will Bou was 2/5 at the X. The Bear O recorded 4 shots.

[NOTE: this post may be filled with errors. The lights were not great; it was raining; the new roster #s have not been memorized; Coach Bordley brought a new scorebook which moved many of the key boxes for inserting the stats.]

END OF 1^ST Q BEARS 2 PANTHERS 2

PVI took the lead for the last time when they scored early in Q2.

John swept to his left and nailed a running goal @ 7:16. Much to the dismay of the vocal and omniscient home fans, a PVI player was sent to the penalty area and whilst he was there, Joey connected with John @ 6:25 for another blast past the PVI goalie. John’s 4^th shot was both on goal and for a goal @ 2:15. John’s positioning benefitted from the movement of and pass from Zach Johnson, who earned an Assist.

During minutes 12:01 to 24:00, Mitch Laughlin added four more saves and Will Bou was 4/4 at the X. The Bear O recorded 8 shots.

Throughout the game, but especially during this segment, the Bear Ds—Greg Strabo, Carter Johnson, Drew Wellington, Mo Sillah and Dog Chirite—frustrated the PVI O. Positioning, slides, sticks on gloves, good balance (the Panthers used a lot of spin moves) and good communications were the reasons why, plus some excellent coaching.

HALFTIME BEARS 5 PANTHERS 3

In what might have been a momentum-changing moment, the Bears were playing EMD against the home team. Mitch made a key save and Landon D moved the ball to Joey E who beat the PVI D @ 10:31.

The home team narrowed the margin to +2, but Garrett showed his elusive stickwork and shooting skills with a goal. @ 10:31

For the 3^rd Q, Mitch stopped 6 more shots and Will Bou won 2 of 3 at the X. The Bear O recorded 8 shots.

END OF 3^RD Q BEARS 7 PANTHERS 4

A penalty carried over from the 3^rd and goal #8 came from Joey E @11:12. Soon afterwards, the visitors sped down the field and the ball was in the cradle of John on a fast break—his goal #5 (there were some intervening misses) @ 10:47.

Thereafter, the Bears learned a lesson—no one gives up when playing them. A win would have made the PVI season and the 3 goals scored in the closing minutes brought the margin to one.

For the final segment, Mitch stopped 6 more shots (total of 18) and Will Bou won 4 of 6 at the X (11/14). The Bear O recorded 8 shots.

FINAL SCORE BEARS 9 PANTHERS 8

It is a tradition that Bears, not necessarily the individual who stood out, but the players who did the little things needed to win, It is called the Khari Baten Award: