Bears Dealt 5-4 Loss to Phantoms on Late Goal

October 24, 2025

Graeme Clarke scored twice but a late goal against in the final minute of regulation handed the Hershey Bears (1-3-1-0) a 5-4 loss in their first meeting of the season with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms (4-2-0-0) on Friday night at PPL Center.

BOX SCORE

NOTABLES:

• Both teams netted their first goals of the game via the power play in the first period, as Karsen Dorwart lit the lamp at 5:02 for Lehigh Valley, while Graeme Clarke scored Hershey's first goal of the campaign with the man advantage at 12:26 to tie the score.
• The Phantoms opened a two-goal lead late in the frame with strikes from Zayde Wisdom and Tucker Robertson, with Phantoms captain Garrett Wilson assisting on both tallies.
• Hershey's 16 shots on goal in the first period represented a season-high for shots in a single period.
• Spencer Smallman scored 24 seconds into the middle frame to trim Lehigh Valley's lead to 3-2, but Jacob Gaucher responded for the hosts at 13:28. Before the period ended, Matt Strome beat Aleksei Kolosov for another power-play goal at 16:40 to pull the visitors to within a goal.
• Calle Rosen assisted on both of Hershey's power-play goals, while Protas collected a pair of assists on Hershey's final two goals.
• Clarke scored to tie the game at 4-4 at 10:39 from Ludwig Persson and Protas, but Wisdom tallied the game-winner for Lehigh Valley with 44 seconds remaining in regulation.
• Bears forward Luke Toporowski sustained an upper-body injury in the first period and did not return following the intermission; additionally, Bears forward Dalton Smith sustained an upper-body injury in the second period and did not return for the third. Forward Henrik Rybinski also left the game late in the third period with an injury. 

SHOTS: HER 29, LV 20

GOALTENDING: HER - Clay Stevenson, 15-for-20; LV - Aleksei Kolosov, 25-for-29

POWER PLAY: HER - 2-for-3; LV - 1-for-4

THEY SAID IT:

Bears head coach Derek King assessing tonight's loss:
"I liked our effort, I liked how we stayed with it, we didn't change the way we played, we didn't get bored with it. I wish we had a better result, because the guys deserved it, but it's a learning curve in this game, and the good thing is we go at it again [tomorrow]."

King on the team battling despite several in-game injuries:
"It's the whole character of these guys and the way the team is starting to evolve, being a good team or being a good group. They backed each other up and that's what we're looking for as coaches, and I thought they did a great job."

Louie Belpedio on returning to where he played the previous three seasons and what he likes about the group in Hershey:
"Yeah, a lot of good memories here, a lot of people that I have a lot of love and respect for. But with that being said, obviously I made a decision that I felt was best for me and my career, and I'm extremely happy with it. Not the result we wanted but I think there's a lot of good things tonight. If you play like that you're going to win a lot more than you lose. Obviously I missed last weekend but I feel like that was the most complete 60 minutes we played, a couple bad bounces here and there. A couple growing pains, we're going to work through it and we'll get better every game."

The Bears continue the 2025-26 season, presented by Penn State Health, when they return home to host the Lehigh Valley Phantoms on Saturday, Oct. 25 at 7 p.m. at GIANT Center for Reese's Trick-or-Treat Night. All fans 14-and-under will receive a Trick-or-Treat bag upon entry and have the opportunity to trick-or-treat around the concourse during pre-game and intermissions. CLICK HERE to purchase tickets for this game.