Bears Gain Point in 3-2 OT Loss to Crunch

April 16, 2025

The Hershey Bears (43-19-7-1) battled back to force overtime but fell to the Syracuse Crunch (36-22-8-4) by a 3-2 score on Wednesday night at GIANT Center, as the club continued its 2024-25 season, presented by Penn State Health.

The point earned reduced Hershey's Magic Number to clinch the Atlantic Division title to one point.

The Bears finished their regular-season series with the Crunch with a 2-1-1-0 record, with the road team winning every game.

BOX SCORE

NOTABLES:

• Hendrix Lapierre and Alex Limoges each recorded a goal and an assist for Hershey. Lapierre deflected Nicky Leivermann's shot from the point past Brandon Halverson at 4:42 of the first period to give Hershey a 1-0 lead. Lapierre then set up Limoges for a tap-in goal at the far post to tie the game at 2-2 at 3:08 of the third period after stealing the puck from Joel Teasdale inside the Syracuse blue line.
• Conor Sheary scored 23 seconds into the overtime period to win the game for Syracuse.
• Bears defenseman Jake Massie returned to the lineup for Hershey after missing the previous 29 games with a lower-body injury.

SHOTS: HER 23, SYR 18

GOALTENDING: HER - Hunter Shepard, 15-for-18; SYR - Brandon Halverson, 21-for-23

POWER PLAY: HER - 0-for-1; SYR - 1-for-2

THEY SAID IT:

Bears head coach Todd Nelson on what contributed to tonight's loss:
"We played a good first period - second period, not so great. We spent more time in our zone than we had to do, we didn't get pucks out on the walls like we should have. They had extended time in our own zone, and Shep had to make some big saves in the second period. They got two on us, they got a power-play goal; they won the special teams battle. But we came back in the third here and Lapierre makes a great play, stealing the puck and finding Limoges back-door. And we were surging in the third - we just didn't get that third goal."

Nelson on how the team has trended recently:
"We had some inconsistency the last couple of weeks, but tonight's game, I thought it was a good hockey game by both sides - really tight-checking for both sides. Both teams didn't get very many shots on goal. When our team did get hemmed in [in the second period], that one shift I think they only generated one shot off it, they missed the net on a few, but we kept them to the outside pretty good."

NEXT GAME:

The Bears continue the 2024-25 regular season, presented by Penn State Health, when they host the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins on Friday, April 18 at 7 p.m. at GIANT Center. Fans 21-and-over can take advantage of a pre-game happy hour from doors to puck drop featuring a $5 16 oz. select beer special. Purchase tickets for the game by CLICKING HERE.