PIRATES WIN ANOTHER ONE FROM BEARS

October 18, 2015

PORTLAND, ME – Rob Schremp and Kyle Rau each tallied two goals to help the host Portland Pirates take a 5-2 victory over the Hershey Bears on Sunday afternoon at Cross Insurance Arena.

For the first time this season, the Bears allowed the first goal of the game. Schremp connected on a one-timer from the right circle on the Pirates’ only power play of the opening stanza, beating Dan Ellis high to the glove side at 16:32.  The goal came shortly after the Pirates killed off Hershey’s only chance with the man advantage.

The Pirates would open up the game with another three-goal second period against the Bears. Rau would be the recipient of a turnover in the left corner, and he quickly walked out in front and backhanded a shot past Ellis at 1:11 for a 2-0 lead.

Schremp’s second of the game came on a quick and accurate passing play, started from the left corner on a backhand pass from Shane Harper.  He found Cameron Gaunce in the left circle, who quickly fired across to Schremp in the right circle.  Schremp’s shot found the net at 10:40 for a 3-0 advantage.

Paul Carey’s first goal with the Bears came on a slow neutral zone rush with Carter Camper.  Carey accepted a cross-ice pass and snapped a hard shot past the glove of goaltender Sam Brittain at 15:20 to put Hershey on the board.

But shortly afterward, Rau deposited a lively rebound of a shot from Mike Matheson inside the near post and restored the Pirates’ three-goal lead at the second intermission.

Early in the third, Riley Barber received a highlight-reel spin-o-rama pass from Travis Boyd and buried the chance to bring Hershey back within two.  But a penalty shot would be awarded to John McFarland inside the final four minutes, and the forward would convert with a snap shot past Ellis to round out the scoring.

Ellis fell to 1-1-0 on the season with 23 saves on 28 shots.  Brittain won his first start of the year with 17 saves on 19 shots.

Hershey ended 0-for-1 on the power play and 1-for-2 on the penalty kill.

The Bears conclude its season-opening four-game road swing on Friday, October 23 with their first-ever meeting against the Utica Comets.  Faceoff from The Aud is set for 7:00 PM.  Fans may listen to the M&C Foreign Car Parts pre-game show beginning at 6:20 on WQIC-FM 100.1, WTKT-AM 1460, online at foxsports1460.com and via the iHeartRadio app for smartphones (Fox Sports 1460).

The Bears open the home portion of the schedule on Saturday, October 24 at 7:00 PM against the Hartford Wolf Pack.  The first 8,000 fans will receive a magnetic schedule courtesy of PNC Bank.  The 1980 Calder Cup championship team will be honored prior to the game in celebration of the 35th anniversary of the title.  The Bears will also wear special throwback jerseys, which will be auctioned off live following the game.

Individual tickets for this and all Bears home games may be purchased at the GIANT Center box office, by calling (717) 508-BEAR or online at TicketMaster.com.

NOTES: ; The Bears scratched D Madison Bowey and LW Nathan Walker…The Pirates scratched D Josh Brown, C Corban Knight, C Brett Olson, RW Vinny Saponari and D Yann Sauve… Hershey allowed the game’s first goal for the first time in the young season...Carter Camper has points in all three games of his Hershey career, setting up Paul Carey’s second-period goal.