Binghamton survives late Venom push

BINGHAMTON – The Binghamton Black Bears defeated the HC Venom 3-2 on Saturday night, in their lone game of the weekend.  Binghamton led 3-0 in the third period, but the Venom pushed back and scored twice in the third period. 

In the sixth meeting this year, Binghamton once again started off the scoring.  Jesse Anderson recorded his eighth goal of the season as the Black Bears had a 1-0 lead, halfway through the period.  Don Olivieri and Austin Thompson rushed into a 2-on-1 leading to Thompson’s 23^rd goal of the campaign.  No penalties occurred in the first period, and Binghamton led 2-0.

The middle frame was almost uneventful, neither side potting a goal.  Binghamton had 15 shots and one power play and did not convert.  The highlight of the frame came at the 20:00 when Tyson Kirkby and Isaac Embree threw down as both players received fighting majors to end the period.  Same score, but a different vibe. 

The Black Bears came out hot in the third period.  Dakota Bohn blasted a shot from the blue line at the 2:22 mark of the frame, which would eventually turn into the game winning goal.  After that, things got interesting.  The Venom connected on the power play to get on the board, then Binghamton found themselves on a bad end of a double-minor.  While the PK did their job, the Venom struck again with under five minutes left to go.

The defense and Connor McAnanama anchored down and shut the door going down the stretch.  The Black Bears survived the late surge, and earned their 32^nd victory of the season, also their 11^th in a row.