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Bears Season Ends in GLHL Tournament
2018-03-25
The Fond du Lac Bears season came to an end Saturday in the Great Lakes Hockey League Tournament.
There was hope. And then it was gone.
After falling 5-3 early Saturday morning to West Bend, the Bears needed two games later in the day to go their way.
First, the Bears needed Mosinee to knock off Marquette. Second, the Bears needed Calumet to beat Fox Cities by three or more goals. This was all because Fond du Lac would then win the tie-breaker between the three teams sitting at 1-1 in the tournament pool play setup.
Mosinee held up their end. Fox Cities had other ideas.
With the Ice Dogs five-goal third period against Calumet, the Dogs came away 7-5 winners and officially ended the Bears chances of advancing to the semi-finals.
The Bears finished the season 3-1 in exhibition play, 12-6 in the Great Lakes Hockey League regular season and 1-1 in the GLHL tournament.
Although the Bombers struck first, it was the Bears who entered the first intermission with a 2-1 lead Saturday morning. Tyler Gross and Conrad Acheson both found the back of the net on back-to-back power play opportunities less than two minutes apart.
After failing to score in the second, and finding themselves down 3-2, Ryan Smet tied the game at three 4:27 into the final frame. Unfortunately, just 2:24 later, the Bombers would reclaim a lead that they would not relinquish. They added an empty-netter to seal the game.
Randy Willis stopped 34 of 38 shots faced.
The Bombers would go on to win the league championship with a 2-0 win over Calumet, which matched the regular season's top two teams.
After falling 5-3 early Saturday morning to West Bend, the Bears needed two games later in the day to go their way.
First, the Bears needed Mosinee to knock off Marquette. Second, the Bears needed Calumet to beat Fox Cities by three or more goals. This was all because Fond du Lac would then win the tie-breaker between the three teams sitting at 1-1 in the tournament pool play setup.
Mosinee held up their end. Fox Cities had other ideas.
With the Ice Dogs five-goal third period against Calumet, the Dogs came away 7-5 winners and officially ended the Bears chances of advancing to the semi-finals.
The Bears finished the season 3-1 in exhibition play, 12-6 in the Great Lakes Hockey League regular season and 1-1 in the GLHL tournament.
Although the Bombers struck first, it was the Bears who entered the first intermission with a 2-1 lead Saturday morning. Tyler Gross and Conrad Acheson both found the back of the net on back-to-back power play opportunities less than two minutes apart.
After failing to score in the second, and finding themselves down 3-2, Ryan Smet tied the game at three 4:27 into the final frame. Unfortunately, just 2:24 later, the Bombers would reclaim a lead that they would not relinquish. They added an empty-netter to seal the game.
Randy Willis stopped 34 of 38 shots faced.
The Bombers would go on to win the league championship with a 2-0 win over Calumet, which matched the regular season's top two teams.