Week 11 Recap: Mustangs stay alive with pair of wins

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Mustangs stay alive with 6-point weekend

The Melbourne Mustangs have kept their slim finals chances alive with a sweep of the Melbourne Ice and Sydney Ice Dogs at the weekend.

The Mustangs engaged with their crosstown rivals in the second Melbourne derby for 2024, in front of a sold-out O’Brien Icehouse on Friday night.

A free flowing first period was punctuated by two goals, with Austin Albrecht opening the scoring for the Ice with his 12^th of the year with 13:19 remaining. It would remain 1-0 until Vlad Rachinsky scored one of the goals of the season on the power play just 41 seconds before the first intermission, where it would be 1-1 at the change.

Penalties punctuated the second period until Lachlan Cincotta got his second of the year for the Ice, only to be answered by Ty Wishart for the orange and black two minutes later. It finished tied at the end of the second as it did after the first, this time 2-2 following 40 minutes.

The Mustangs took their first lead of the game through Tom Flack five minutes into the final period and then extended their lead to 4-2, after debutante Rylan Freed scored his first AIHL goal in his first game.

Ice captain Mac Caruana pulled the lead back to 4-3 with a power play goal but it would prove to be not enough, as Rachinsky added an empty-net goal for a 5-3 Mustangs’ victory.

The Mustangs then faced the Ice Dogs on Sunday afternoon and were on the back foot from the get-go, with Sydney piling on the shots from the opening face-off.

Despite being outgunned the Mustangs managed to score against the run of play, with Freed notching his second of the weekend for a 1-0 lead. Nick Ponomarev grabbed his second of the year to extend the Mustangs’ advantage to two, until Dutchman Mike Dalhuisen beat Flodell with a wrist shot to pull it back to 2-1 at the break.

Melbourne managed to get the lone goal of the second frame thanks to Brad Apps on the power play, continuing his career-best year. It finished 3-1 Mustangs at the second intermission.

It would then escalate to 5-1 Melbourne within two minutes of the restart, with goals to Matt Armstrong and Rachinksy. Grant Toulmin managed to spark the Ice Dogs with a pair of late goals, until Melbourne captain Todd Cutter sealed the deal with an empty net mark for a 6-3 victory.

Flodell made 49 saves on 52 shots in the win, while Arvid Ljung went 32 from 38.

The Mustangs head to NSW for a battle with the Bears before a rematch with the Ice Dogs on Sunday at Macquarie, with the Ice Dogs also taking on the Bears on Friday night.



Adrenaline take 4 points from Thunder

The Adelaide Adrenaline have continued their streak of mid-season form, taking the Perth Thunder to a shootout on Saturday, before grabbing a regulation 3-1 win on Sunday.

Saturday’s game began with new Thunder import Natan Vertes scoring on debut for Perth, with the lone goal of the period that would finish 1-0.

The Adrenaline poured it on in the second period, outshooting Perth 13-3 and resulting in a 2-1 Adrenaline lead thanks to a pair of goals to Kaden Elder. 

The Adrenaline kept the pressure on in the third period despite a bevy of penalties and looked destined for an upset, until Thunder’s David Kudla tied the game with 5:39 remaining to send the game to overtime.

3-on-3 was unable to split the teams and the result was ultimately decided by Vertes, scoring the only goal of the ensuing shootout to get the Thunder out of jail with a 3-2 win.

Adelaide carried their momentum into the game on Sunday, opening the scoring through Elder’s third of the weekend. Kieren Webster answered for Perth two minutes before the break, to even the score 1-1 at the first intermission.

After a scoreless second it would stay 1-1 until late in the third, despite nearly 20 shots-a-piece through two periods, with Shaun Dosanjh pulling the Adrenaline ahead with 7 minutes to go. Elder put the icing on the cake with 1:42 to play, sealing a 3-1 victory for the Adrenaline who now have 10 points from their last 4 games.

The Thunder now travel to Canberra for a Saturday game with the Brave, while the Adrenaline host the Ice in a two-game series next week.


Photo: Krause Sports Photography
 
Northstars mauled by Bears, squeeze by Rhinos

The Newcastle Northstars suffered a heavy defeat at the hands of the Sydney Bears before rebounding to get past the Rhinos 4-3 on Sunday, snapping a 6-game losing streak.

The league-leading Bears turned on a 6-goal first period on Saturday which Newcastle never recovered from, including two each to Brody Lindal and Adam Kadlec. Daniel Berno managed the lone response from the Northstars.

Lindal completed his hat-trick in the second, with Newcastle able to muster a pair from Berno’s second goal and Kyler Matthews to make the score 7-3 with the game already over by the second intermission.

Lindal made it a 4-goal night to seal the Bears’ victory and retain top spot in the AIHL.

Newcastle would redeem themselves on Sunday, despite a gallant showing from the Central Coast Rhinos.

Mackenzie Bolger got the Rhinos out in front 20 seconds into the game, before Beau Taylor restored parity 5 minutes later for a 1-1 scoreline. Danick Bouchard changed it to 2-1 Rhinos at the first intermission on the power play, with just 7 seconds remaining.

Newcastle found third gear in the second, dominating the shot count 17-8 and tallying the only two goals of the period, both to Matthews on the power play as the Northstars closed out the period 3-1 ahead.

From there Newcastle didn’t let up and despite Bouchard’s second pulling them to within one, Francis Drolet made sure of the result with the decider to make it 4-3 with 5:15 remaining in the game.

Mitsuaki Inoue stopped 12 from 24 for the Northstars, while Anand Oberoi went 37 from 41. The game also noted the return of AIHL and Australian legend Al Becken, who signed as an EBUG for Central Coast at age 55 and who last played in the AIHL for the Sydney Bears in 2012. Becken is also a member of the former Rhinos franchise that ceased play in 2009 and still suits up regularly in the ECSL for the Bombers.

Newcastle have a double header with the Lightning in Brisbane, while the Rhinos have the weekend off.


 
Brave annihilate Rhinos, Ice down determined Dogs

In other games, the Canberra Brave have demolished the Central Coast Rhinos in a lop-sided affair at Erina on Saturday afternoon, while the Melbourne Ice just managed to get past the Sydney Ice Dogs at the O’Brien Icehouse.

It was the Rhinos who stunned the visitors by jumping out to a 1-0 lead from Aziz Baazzi, just two minutes into the game. The first period was then goal-for-goal, ending in a 3-2 Rhinos lead after 20 minutes of play.

That was where the scoring would end for Central Coast, as the Brave ran riot across two periods ending in an 11-4 demolition which saw a hat-trick for Austin Cangelosi and 4 points for Kai Miettinen.

The Melbourne Ice came up against a determined Sydney Ice Dogs outfit on Saturday, only just scraping by Sydney with a 6-4 win.

A pair of Austin Albrecht goals got the Ice off to a flyer before Kale Costa, recently returned from HC Stadion Litomerice, scored on debut for his first of the year. His brother Braden would make it 2-2 at the first change.

Kale would then go on to get a second to pull the Dogs in front 3-2, before Austin McKenzie kept the scores level 3-3 going in the second intermission. Shots were 35-20 in favour of the Ice at this point.

Again the Dogs took an early lead to start the period, through Ivan Kuleshov's first of the season, for a 4-3 lead and an upset on the cards.

However, Albrecht and Mac Caruana spoiled the party with a goal each and Albrecht added an empty net goal with time expiring in the third period to grab three points and keep pace with the Sydney Bears at the top of the table.

The Ice travel to Adelaide for a double header with the Adrenaline, while the Ice Dogs have the Battle of Sydney on Friday night, followed by the Mustangs at home on Sunday.