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HELLYER LADDER

Team	GP	W	L	PTS
Ice	3	3	0	9
Thunder	4	3	1	9
Bears	3	2	1	6
Mustangs	1	1	0	3
Ice Dogs	4	0	4	0

RURAK LADDER

Team	GP	W	L	PTS
Northstars	3	3	0	9
Adrenaline	1	1	0	3
Brave	4	1	3	3
Lightning	4	1	3	3
Rhinos	3	0	3	0

SCORING LEADERS

Aiden
Wagner (NNS)

Player	Points
Jeremiah Addison (PER)	14
Wehebe Darge (NNS)	12
francis Drolet (NNS)	12
Beau Taylor (NNS)	10

GOALIE LEADERS

N Novysedlak (BRE)

1.000

Goalie	SV%
Tatsunoshin Ishida (MIC)	.952
Rhys Pelliccione (PER)	.950
Leo Bertein (PER)	.912
Jeremy Friederich (ADE)	.912

Ice edge Thunder in semi-final thriller

Saturday, August 29, 2015 - Submitted by Courtney Laura

Mitch Humphries has scored the lone goal as the Melbourne Ice booked their Grand Final place with a 1-0 win over the Perth Thunder in the second semi-final of the 2015 AIHL Finals presented by Air Canada at the Medibank Icehouse.

It's the goalkeepers that will go down in history as the Ice’s Alex Leclerc and Thunder’s Mark Guggenberger did everything in their power to get their team over the line.

Despite the low scoring game it was end-to-end hockey with fast, offensive action from both sides.

In the end, it was Humphries power play goal that was the difference, as the puck ricocheted of the players in front of Guggenberger and trickled through his legs.

The win gives the Ice a fifth Grand Final berth in six season.

“It was tough. It was always going to be an arm wrestle,” said Ice coach Brent Laver. “These guys play with so much spirit, with a lot of intensity and real belief and I think you could see that throughout the year. I think Guggenberger was great again. We just had to hang in there and give ourselves the opportunity to play tomorrow.”

For the Thunder, the closeness of the game was a hard pill to swallow.

“I think the boys came out hard,” said Thunder coach Dave Kenway. “That one goal was a lucky power play goal, it just trickled over and we couldn't find the net at the other end. A low scoring game like that is disappointing, but they did play well. It was a tough game, close all the way through.”

With the ‘Go Ice Go’ chant echoing through the Icehouse, the hometown fans were right behind their team but the Thunder showed they were here to play, taking it to the Ice in the early exchanges.

While fans hungered for the opening goal, both goalkeepers were ready for everything, turning away strong chances at either end.

It took until three minutes into the final period for Humphries to break the deadlock.

A breakaway move on the power play saw the Ice fly through the Thunder’s defensive line with a wrist shot from Mitchell Humphries finding the back of the net.

Neither team would let up until the final whistle, with hard and fast two-way skating as both sides fought for the next goal, while staying determined not to concede one.

Although the Thunder received a power play with just over two minutes remaining, they were unable to find a way past the Ice’s Alex Leclerc who recorded a shutout in the result.

Thunder coach Kenway had nothing but praise for his goaltender, when went down with an injury last week yet came up with 32 saves in the semi-final.

“Guges stepped up, we needed him to step up for the game and he did,” Kenway said. “He is battling injury and has been all season. It has been tough for him, but he stepped up for the big moments, and I am very happy with his performance tonight.”

Meanwhile, the Ice prepare for a showdown with the Newcastle North Stars for the 2015 AIHL Champion, aiming to lift their fourth Cup in just six seasons.

“I think that we just need to stick to a game plan,” Laver said. “We thought it worked well against them when we played them here last time. Five-on-five, we match up really well. I think they [the Brave] showed us the way by coming out flying. They caught them off guard so we will be hoping to try and do the same.”

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