Worcester Sharks season comes to an end after Game 4 loss in Hershey
Hershey Bears advance after 10-4 win over Worcester
May 2, 2015Hershey, PA – The Worcester Sharks season came to an end after a Game 4 loss to the Hershey Bears by the score of 10-4 in front 7,874 fans at the GIANT Center on Friday evening in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals. The Bears won the series 3-1 with the Sharks playing their final game as the Worcester Sharks, as the team will move to San Jose, CA for the 2015-16 season and become the San Jose Barracuda.
Dylan Demelo, Karl Stollery, Rylan Schwartz, and Matt Taormina scored for Worcester while Troy Grosenick and Aaron Dell each saw action for the Sharks in the loss. Casey Wellman (3-1-4), Chris Brown (2-0-2), Jacub Vrana (1-2-3), Tim Kennedy (1-2-3), and Cameron Schilling (1-2-3) all had big games for the Bears while Phillipp Grubauer (19-21) and Pheonix Copley (11-13) held down the fort in net as Hershey advanced to the second round of the Calder Cup playoffs.
A wild first period saw five total goals, nine penalties, 22 total shots, three goaltenders, and two timeouts used. Hershey scored three goals on their first four shots in the first 10:40 on goaltender Troy Grosenick to give Hershey a 3-0 advantage. Chris Brown at 24 seconds, Dustin Gazley scored on a shorthanded breakaway at 3:44, and Jacob Vrana at 10:40 scored for the Bears during the opening flurry. Aaron Dell replaced Troy Grosenick in net after Vrana scored.
The Sharks finally got on the board after a goal mouth scramble, which led to Ryan Carpenter finding birthday boy Dylan Demelo in the crease for an easy tap in at 12:17. Hershey scored with a two man advantage at 16:10 as Nate Schmidt sent a puck across the crease that went off a Worcester defender and past Aaron Dell to give the Bears a 4-1 lead after 20 minutes. Each team had 11 shots on goals as Phillipp Grubauer made 10 saves for Hershey.
Hershey scored twice more in the second period to take a 6-2 lead into the second intermission. Karl Stollery fired home a power play goal at 4:07 of the second period to get the Sharks within a pair of goals at 4-2. But Cameron Schilling answered back at 9:05 with a one timer shot from the left circle after a cross ice feed from Tim Kennedy to put Hershey ahead 5-2.
Evan Trupp was ejected for slashing at 17:55, and the Bears scored on the major power play at 19:32 as Tim Kennedy gave the Bears a four goal advantage. Shots were 31-21 Bears through 40 minutes as the Sharks trailed 6-2 after two periods of play.
Pheonix Copley began the third period in net for the Bears as Grubauer left the game with an undisclosed injury. Former San Jose Jr. Shark Casey Wellman struck on the PP at 1:28, Liam O’Brien on the PP at 1:28, and Casey Wellman again at 2:09 of the third period put the game away for the Bears and gave Hershey a 9-2 lead early in the third period.
Troy Grosenick came back in net for Worcester at 2:09 of the third period and Chris Brown scored again at 8:06 to put Hershey up 10-2. Rylan Schwartz at 11:05 and Matt Taormina at 15:07 tacked on late goals for the Sharks as the Bears took Game 4 by the count of 10-4.
Thank you, Sharks fans, for nine awesome years in Worcester!