Bears Drop 6-1 Decision to Checkers to Split Weekend Series

April 12, 2026

The Hershey Bears (30-30-6-3) fell to Sandis Vilmanis and the Charlotte Checkers (43-22-5-0) by a 6-1 score on Sunday afternoon at the Bojangles Coliseum.  

The Checkers forward turned in a four-goal performance to help prevent the Bears from lowering their Magic Number towards clinching a berth in the 2026 Calder Cup Playoffs, and Hershey concluded its season series with a 4-3-0-1 record versus the Checkers this season.

BOX SCORE

NOTABLES:

• Jack Studnicka gave Charlotte an early 1-0 lead, scoring just 28 seconds into the contest on the first shot of the game.
• Charlotte's Sandis Vilmanis extended his team's lead with a pair of goals in the second period, including a power-play marker. Vilmanis then added two more in the third period to complete his scoring binge.
• Alex Suzdalev tallied his ninth of the season at 12:01 of the second between Vilmanis' first two goals, with Brett Leason and Kyler Kupka contributing assists.
• Bears forward Sonny Milano was unavailable due to an upper-body injury; Hershey inserted defensemen Romain Rodzinski and David Gucciardi into the lineup, both of whom played time at forward.

SHOTS: HER 21, CLT 33

GOALTENDING: HER - Mitch Gibson, 27-for-33; CLT - Louis Domingue, 20-for-21

POWER PLAY: HER - 0-for-2; CLT - 1-for-4

THEY SAID IT:

Bears head coach Derek King on the team needing to be strong defensively versus Charlotte:
"You look at the score, and you always think the team didn't play well, but based on our lineup - using two defensemen up front - I thought we competed, we just don't have that finish that other teams do, and they capitalized on our chances and we didn't." 

King on the team battling through injuries and call-ups:
"We missed the boat there - it would've been nice with Milano in the lineup - and I wouldn't have had to use two 'D' and go to the situation we were in. I didn't feel like we were out of it, they scored the first shift, but I still thought we were competing. We had some shifts where we hemmed them in a bit, we just couldn't capitalize. Hopefully we get healthier. Obviously it would be nice to have a couple guys down from the big team back down, but if not, we've just got to clean up a couple areas in our zone, and that's where we got a little sloppy, and I think that when you're down 4-1 or 3-1, you start to maybe cheat [positionally] a little bit, and I think we've got to realize we can't do that."

King on the team's chances during the third period when Hershey had nearly scored to pull back within a goal:
"I think our chances would be good. It's always nice when you're down in a game and you can get the score back to where you have a chance to pull your goalie, and have an opportunity to score that way, and I think that would have got the bench up on their feet and feeling that we can do this."

(Answers edited for clarity)

The Bears continue the 2025-26 season, presented by Penn State Health, as they conclude their eight-game road trip against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins on Wednesday, April 15 at 7:05 p.m. at Mohegan Arena at Casey Plaza. Hershey returns home to host the Bridgeport Islanders on Saturday, April 18 at 7 p.m. at GIANT Center for Racing Night and Toyota License Plate Night, featuring a Bears license plate giveaway to the first 6,000 fans in attendance, courtesy of Toyota. CLICK HERE to purchase tickets for this game.