Gerling and Hewitt light up Brave Cave on debut

The CBR Brave opened 2018 with a hard-fought win over a resilient Sydney Bears outfit. With both teams missing players for the IIHF World Championships in the Netherlands, the opening game of the season was sure to be a test of depth for both the Brave and the Bears.

Trevor Gerling who recently joined the Brave from French Championship team Lyon, netted a goal on debut. Photo: David Tate. 

The opening few minutes of the game was a dogfight with both sides looking to assert their dominance. The Brave gained the upper hand when Chad Smith took a slashing penalty early in the first period. The Brave were quick to capitalise with new recruit Channing Bresciani unleashing a rocket from the blue line to beat Aston Brooks just 9 seconds into the power play.

The smaller ice of the Brave Cave soon opened with offsetting penalties seeing some 4-on-4 hockey. The Bears frustration started to show as Thomas Steven was shown the gate for tripping, putting the Brave on a 4-on-3 power play late in the period. The Brave were quick to capitalise again on the power play as Trevor Gerling launched a long range shot from the blue line, which was deflected in front to beat Aston Brooks, top shelf.

Bears kept up the fight

Heading into the second period, the Bears looked to wrestle the ascendancy away from the Brave. The Bears gained the man advantage after an interference call on Bailey Kubara, but the Brave resolutely repelled the sustained onslaught of an intense Bears power play. Neither team was able to score after a number of handling issues hampered prime opportunities for both sides.

A quick succesion of goals early in the 3rd period kept the Bears in the game. Photo: David Tate.

The Bears took the fight to the Brave in the early part of the final period, scoring 2 goals just 38 seconds apart. The first goal, from Michael Haynes was a mishandled puck by Brave goalie, Matt Hewitt that took a horrid bounce over his stick as he left his crease to play it. The Bears second goal, from Michael Burns, was the result of a pile on in Hewitt’s crease. As Hewitt looked to freeze the puck, the Bears fierce net drive was able to squeeze the puck, and a couple of players, into the back of the net.

The Brave survived the continued attack from the Sydney Bears, and were able to wrest control of the game away from the visitors.  With just 30 seconds left in the game, the Bears pulled Brooks for an extra skater but Gerling unselfishly fed fellow Brave debutante Joey Hughes, who potted home the empty net goal to seal the win.

CBR Brave Head Coach, Rob Starke was pleased with the result and the team effort to get the win.

“Our imports played extremely well, our locals played solid and I think as a collective group, we really won as a team tonight, which shows our depth, because we're still missing a lot of key players”, said Starke.

Hewitt between the pipes provided a defensive boost for the Brave. Photo: David Tate.

Coach Starke also praised the efforts of goalie Matt Hewitt.

“Hewy played terrific. He was in the zone. Adjusting to this rink, adjusting to this league, to come in that hot is a huge, huge boost for our team and I think he'll be red hot for us all the way”.

Sydney Bears Head Coach, Ron Kuprowsky, was happy with the fight that his team showed to come back the way they did.

“We were understaffed, we were short. A lot of our players we showed a lot of heart and came pretty close. A couple goal posts made the difference. That's the way it is, it bounces one way this week and hopefully it bounces back the other way next time you know”.