Mustangs rally to down Adrenaline

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The Melbourne Mustangs overcame an early deficit to defeat the Adelaide Adrenaline 4-2 at the O’Brien Group Arena on Saturday night.
 
In the teams’ first games against each other since late last season, the two teams clashed in a fast paced and physically demanding game of hockey.
 
“A bit of belief and sticking to what we know always works,” said Mustangs Coach Michael Flaherty. “There were certain things that we talked about in the rooms that we wanted to make sure we did, and doing those things put us in the right position to get the result.”
 
Only three minutes into the first period and the Adrenaline opened the scoring when Greg Oddy set up the high-flying Wehebe Darge with a pinpoint cross-ice pass.
 
The remainder of the period may have been scoreless but both sides worked hard to gain control of the puck and produce opportunities.
 
The second period saw the Mustangs get their first goal onto the scoreboard thanks to Captain Pat O’Kane, claiming a hard pass from James Isaacs.
 
The aggressive play continued throughout the period with the Adrenaline striking straight back through Josef Rezek, who did it all himself, entering the zone and regaining the lead.
 
It would last long, with the Mustangs tying it a 2-all through Jamie Bourke.
 
With time running out for the period, O’Kane had his second on the power play to give the Mustangs the lead for the first time leading into the final period.
 
 “It's disappointing for us actually, we believe we have the depth in our team and the talent, but at this stage in time we're still not clicking,” said Adrenaline General Manager Mickey Sutherland.
 
The third period saw a handful of physical altercations as the game became more heated.
 
“It's very important when the other team are getting physical, and mixing it up that we stay focused on our job, and today, we did a good job staying focused,” said Flaherty. ”Last week, we didn't stay focused. Today we were focused, and it shows in the result in the end.”
 
With the aggression ramping up, the scoreboard remained the same until with four and a half minutes left in the game, the Mustangs’ Sean Jones slotted an insurance goal.
 
The last minute of the game saw Adelaide pull their goalie for the extra skater but it was to no avail as the Mustangs held on to the 4-2 win.
 
Sutherland said the Adrenaline had a few things to work on.
 
“The defence hold their own but we just don't seem to be coming up with the right combination for the forward line,” he said. “We've just got to keep working on what we have and hope that they can get it together.”
 
The Adrenaline will face off against the Bears in a double header next week in Adelaide, and the Mustangs will go up against the North Stars in Newcastle on Saturday, and the Ice Dogs in Sydney on Sunday.