Wisdom Late Winner Downs Hershey
Deciding Tally with 43.6 Secs Left
October 24, 2025
Allentown, PA – Leave it to the Wizard! Zayde Wisdom’s backdoor blast from the left circle with just 43.6 seconds left broke a late 4-4 deadlock and propelled the Lehigh Valley Phantoms to a 5-4 victory over the Hershey Bears on Friday night at PPL Center. Lehigh Valley (4-2-0) had three goals from the fourth line while delighting the “Haunted on Hamilton” contingent on the team’s Halloween Theme game.
Zayde’s Wizardry resulted in two goals and one assist while Tucker Robertson added a goal and a helper and captain Garrett Wilson registered a pair of assists for the second time this season. Karsen Dorwart (3rd) and Jacob Gaucher (1st) also found the back of the net for the Orange and Black.
But it was the fourth liners who thrived. And came through in the closing seconds when it mattered most.
“Wiz, Wilson and Robbie were probably our best line all night,” head coach John Snowden said. “So they earned that opportunity. We had a plan and they executed at a pretty important time.”
Their success wasn’t an accident and it wasn’t magic. It was all about putting in the work.
“They were just relentless,” Snowden said. “They worked hard. They were over pucks. They got through guys. Anytime it turned over, their steps were hard back towards our end and got above guys quickly and then turned it right back into their end. And they played a heavy relentless game. That’s exactly what this young team needs to see. Wiz and Wils have been around a while. Robbie’s coming into the lineup and he made a good impact for us. Just hard it is to win and compete in this league and tha tline set the tempo for us.”
Hershey (1-3-1) rallied from deficits of 3-1 and 4-2 to come back and equalize. But the Phantoms persevered with timely and effective shot selections. It was the most goals in a game for Lehigh Valley this season and the highest combined total of goals in a game as well.
The Phantoms struck thrice in the opening period, their most goals in a single game this season. Karsen Dorwart opened the contest with his net-front deflection of an Alex Bump drive from center point on the power play for a 1-0 lead at 5:02 into the contest.
Graeme Clarke sniped from the left circle to even the count for Hershey with his power-play conversion at 12:26.
The Phantoms scored them back-to-back in the closing minutes of the first to take a 3-1 lead into the intermission. Wisdom’s first goal came on the rush up the right wing with a snipe to the far post past Clay Stevenson at 15:30 on a play assisted by Wilson and Robertson.
Then it was Robertson getting his nose dirty at the net-front to knock in a centering pass from Wilson that developed from behind the cage. Wilson’s feed hit off the skate of Wisdom before the new prospect buried his first as a Phantom. Robertson was acquired in September from the Seattle Kraken organization in exchange for J.R. Avon.
Hershey roared back in the second including a goal by Spencer Smallman just 24 seconds into the period on a power move to the net from the left-wing corner. Kolosov dove out to try to knock it away but Smallman was able to curl it in despite some slight contact while cutting across.
The Phantoms reestablished the two-goal lead at 13:28 into the second period when Alexis Gendron picked off a clearing try from former Phantoms defenseman Louis Belpedio. Gendron found Gaucher near the right of the cage who waited it out as Stevenson desperately went down to cover space. Gaucher’s patience paid off as he had time to pull the puck back around the fallen goaltender while tucking a soft backhand push behind him into the net for a 4-2 lead.
Hershey wasn’t finished. Former Phantoms forward Matt Strome scored on a blast from the slot on the power play past the glove of Aleksei Kolosov to make it 4-4 with just 3:20 to go in the third. And Clarke sneaked in behind the Phantoms defense midway through the third for a tying goal on the breakaway midway through the third and suddenly the game was even at 4-4.
But a designed play for the fourth liners in the Hershey zone proved to be the winning setup Wisdom won the faceoff in the right circle and then made a quick move over the opposite side where Helge Grans and Emil Andrae were able to find him. The east-west movement had Stevenson trying to rotate over but Wisdom’s effort to put one into the middle for Garrett Wilson ended up going in on its own with just 43.6 seconds remaining for the wild 5-4 win.
“I know Wilson was going to the net,” Wisdom said. “It was part of the set play to get him to the net, and he’s a big body, so he’ll get anybody out of his way. So, I was just thinking about getting it on net and it squeaked through his five hole. Getting it on net was the plan and it went in, so I can’t complain.”
The Phantoms and Bears rematch on Saturday in Hershey in the first of a five-game road-trip for Lehigh Valley that continues on Wednesday at Laval and then next weekend with a pair of games at Hartford.
The Phantoms return to PPL Center on Saturday, November 8 against the Toronto Marlies on Service Electric Network Phantoms Ballcap Night for the first 5,000 fans. The November 8 game also includes a Postgame Skate with the Phantoms players presented by NJM Insurance.
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