Black Bears take series lead with Game 1 victory over Carolina

WINSTON-SALEM, NC (WIVT/WBGH) – The Binghamton Black Bears handled the Carolina Thunderbirds in Game 1 of the Commissioner’s Cup Finals, earning the 5-3 victory to take a 1-0 series lead.

The Black Bears set the tone when Connor Smith scored the opening goal of the series just over 4 minutes in.

Binghamton followed the early score with 2 more goals in the opening frame from Jestin Somero and Josh Fletcher giving the Black Bears a 3-0 lead at the 1st intermission.

Carolina opened the 2nd with a goal Gus Ford, the 1st of Ford’s Game 1 hat trick.

The Black Bears responded immediately when Dan Stone scored from the neutral zone less than a minute later to give Binghamton the 4-1 lead.

That’s where the score would stay into the 3rd, when Ford would score back-to-back goals to make it a 1 goal game with less than 5 minutes to play.

Connor McAnanama made a number of saves late in the game to help secure the victory, gathering a total of 43 saves on the night.

Austin Thompson scored an empty net goal with less than 20 seconds to play to give Binghamton the win.

The Black Bears and Thunderbirds will face off in Game 2 on Saturday at 7:35 p.m. at the Winston-Salem Fairgrounds Arena.

Binghamton will host Game 3 next Friday, as well as Games 4 and 5 if necessary.

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