Iorio Lifts Bears to 4-3 OT Win Over Islanders

Vincent Iorio’s first career goal proved to be the game-winner as the Hershey Bears (6-2-2-0) prevailed with a 4-3 overtime victory over the Bridgeport Islanders (7-2-2-0) on Friday night at GIANT Center. The triumph also pushed Hershey’s unbeaten streak at home to start the season to six games (5-0-1-0).

Friday, November 11, 2022, the Hershey Bears vs the Bridgeport Islanders. The Bears beat Bridgeport by a score of 4-3 in overtime.

BOX SCORE

The Islanders opened the scoring with their first shot of the game just 1:45 into the contest when Hudson Fasching broke in on a 2-on-1 and snapped the puck past Zach Fucale to give Bridgeport a 1-0 lead.

The Bears equalized at 8:02 when Lucas Johansen broke up a play at the Hershey blue line and fed it along the boards to Shane Gersich, who found Ethen Frank for a partial breakaway, allowing the rookie to beat Jakub Skarek with a shot to the upper-right corner of the net for his fifth goal of the season. The tally also extended Frank’s goal-scoring streak to five games.

Fasching scored again early in the second to put the visitors ahead 2-1, this time stuffing a loose puck behind Fucale at 2:12.

Kale Kessy pulled Hershey level at 2-2 late in the frame after Skarek stopped a shot by Iorio from the left point, corralling the rebound and backhanding it underneath the sprawled netminder for his first of the season. Riley Sutter earned a secondary assist on the goal.

Hershey got its first lead of the evening in the third period when Frank worked the puck into the offensive zone and found Hendrix Lapierre behind the Islanders net, and Lapierre fed Shane Gersich in the slot, allowing the forward to snap the puck inside the left post at 5:54.

Kyle McLean answered for Bridgeport at 9:44 when he shoveled a turnover past Fucale to make it 3-3.

With the game tied at the end of regulation, Iorio won it for the Bears when he cut across the high slot and fired a wrist shot that beat a screened Skarek at 2:01 of the extra frame. Mason Morelli and Sam Anas earned assists on the goal.

Shots finished 36-32 favoring the Bears. Fucale finished the night 29-for-32 for the Bears, while Skarek was 32-for-36. Hershey was 0-for-2 on the power play, while Bridgeport went 0-for-1.

Hershey continues the 2022-23 season, presented by Penn State Health, when the Bears face the Bridgeport Islanders at GIANT Center on Saturday, Nov. 12 at 7 p.m. Hershey will honor all members of our nation’s armed forces as part of Hometown Heroes Night. Purchase tickets for the game by CLICKING HERE.

With Hershey match report