Dustin Jesseau has hat trick, but Venom lose opener 9-6

by Jim Cerny

NEWBURGH, NY -- Dustin Jesseau scored a hat trick and had five points, but the Hudson Valley Venom could not secure a win in their first game in franchise history, losing 9-6 to the Binghamton Black Bears on Friday at Ice Time Sports Complex.

Despite the loss, it was a memorable night for the Hudson Valley area, with the first professional hockey game in the FPHL.

Mark Pozsar scored the first goal in Venom history at 9:38 of the first period. The 25-year-old defensemen wired a left-wing shot far side past Binghamton goalie Nolan Egbert. 

That cut the Venom's early deficit to 2-1. They fell behind 4-1 by the first intermission, with Binghamton's Gavin Yates scoring two goals.

The Venom stormed back at the start of the second period and scored three goals in the first 5:17 to tie the game 4-4. Forward Eimantas Noreika scored his first goal in his professional debut, on the power play, just 19 seconds into the period. Brendan Charlton followed with another power-play goal at 1:51. That goal was the first of Charlton's professional career, as well. The 25 year-old forward was scoreless in five games with the Blue Ridge Bobcats last season.

Jesseau tied it with his first goal of the night at 5:17. Despite the rally, the Venom never held a lead in the contest.

Binghamton forward Austin Thompson then heated up. He scored at 10:07 of the second period and 54 seconds into the third to make it 6-4. He later completed the hat trick with a long shot at 12:29 that made it 8-6.

Jesseau scored twice in the third period to complete his hat trick, including a gorgeous breakaway goal.

Noreika finished with two points (goal, assist) for the Venom and forward Davide Gaeta had two assists. Goalie Eli Bowers made 29 saves for Hudson Valley, which will turn right around and visit the defending Commissioner's Cup champions in Binghamton on Saturday to complete the season opening home-and-home set. 

Like Jesseau, Thompson added two assists to his hat trick for a five-point night. Donald Olivieri had two power-play goals and two assists for Binghamton and Kirkby had four points (one goal, three assists). Egbert made 23 saves. 

The game Saturday can be viewed on The Binghamton Black Bears YouTube channel. 

Hudson Valley's next home game is Friday, Oct. 25 when the Venom host the Port Huron Prowlers. Game time is 7 p.m. at Ice Time Sports Complex. For Venom ticket information, call 845-454-5800 or visit Ticketmaster.