Week 18 Recap: Bears secure H. Newman Reid Trophy with wins over Perth

---

Brisbane clinch finals spot after downing Adelaide

Julian Fodor had a 4-goal weekend and the Brisbane Lightning secured an AIHL Finals spot for the second year in a row, with a pair of victories over Adelaide in Queensland last weekend.

Adelaide got the jump on Brisbane in an action-packed first period, with Julian Friedrich and Marcel McGuiness establishing a 2-0 lead early. Fodor and Gendunov responded to bring about a 2-2 score line at the first intermission.

Gendunov and Fodor then scored in reverse order on the other side of the restart, and the Lightning took control at 4-2. Fodor then completed a hat-trick with a goal of the season contender for a 5-2 lead. Ryan Foll pulled it back to 5-3 on the power play under 3 minutes from the second intermission, to set-up a classic finish in the fight for the last playoff spot.

Adelaide threw everything at Brisbane with the finals on the line, piling on 13 shots to 8 and finally found another through Julian Friedrich for a one-goal game.

Despite Adelaide pulling Rylan Toth for the extra skater, Brisbane held on and booked their ticket to the 2024 AIHL Finals series with a 5-4 regulation win.

Sunday night was a much tighter affair, as the Adrenaline kept the Lightning on the back foot for much of the game and peppered the net of Curtis Meger through a scoreless first 20 minutes.

However, Fodor had his 4^th of the weekend midway through the second period as the Lightning took the lead 1-0.

Adelaide got an equaliser early in the third period through Kaden Elder to make it 1-1, with neither team being able to force the game to be finished in regulation.

It also couldn’t be settled in overtime, so it headed to the shootout where Batu Gendunov and Mitch Dyck tallied for the Lightning while Meger blanked Elder and Remy McGuinness to seal a 5-point weekend for the Lightning.

Brisbane travel west to face the Perth Thunder in their final game of the season, while the Adrenaline finish their season on the road in Canberra with a double header.



Bears take H. Newman Reid trophy after pair of road wins in Perth

The Sydney Bears have taken the AIHL minor premiership with a sweep of the Perth Thunder in WA.

Ryan Annesley got the Bears off and running on Saturday at Perth Ice Arena with the only goal of the first period and his 150^th AIHL point, for a 1-0 lead.

Perth’s response came on the power play under 3 minutes into the second period through Yu Hikosaka, for a 1-1 tie. Both teams then went goal-for-goal, as Tomas Landa and Timmy Newmark tallied for the visitors and Natan Vertes and Jeremiah Addison levelled for Perth, for a 3-3 tie heading into the third.

However, Landa’s second of the game and an additional goal from Carson Miller in the third period delivered a 5-3 win and the minor premiership for the Bears.

Despite the Saturday win, the Bears didn’t take the foot off of the accelerator demolishing the Thunder by 5 goals on Sunday afternoon.

The Bears got out to an early 2-0 lead after two periods and didn’t look back, with Scott Clemie picking up his first AIHL goal since 2022 and Newmark getting his second of the weekend.

Sydney outscored Perth 4 to 1 in the second, as Kieren Webster’s 11^th of the season was the only mark for Perth among goals to Noah Moncrieff, Landa and Miller to end the period 5-1.

Reece Lukowiak’s first for the season was the only bright point in the third for Perth, as Miller’s second of the game and Lucas Hermann’s last minute power play goal confirmed a 7-2 victory.

Perth close out the regular season against fellow finalists Brisbane in the final game of the year, while the Bears end the year against the Ice at Macquarie in a pre-finals hit out.



Northstars edge Rhinos to remain top of Rurak Conference

The Newcastle Northstars will remain on top of the Rurak Conference heading into the final week of the season, with a 3-2 victory over a fast-finishing Central Coast Rhinos at Erina.

The Northstars unleashed an 18-4 shot barrage on Anand Oberoi in the first period, but could not find a way past until the second period.

Francis Drolet remained Newcastle’s top points scorer with his 20^th of the season, with Beau Taylor adding another less than a minute later for a 2-0 Newcastle lead. Adrien Sebag scored a shorty with 5 minutes remaining to get the Rhinos back in the game before the second intermission, which would finish 2-1.

It would remain 2-1 on the scoreboard throughout the third as Aziz Baazzi scored on a rare penalty shot with 8 minutes to go, to tie the game in the closing stages and give the Rhinos a chance at an upset.

However, Taylor’s second off a set-up from Wehebe Darge with 4 minutes remaining and brought the 3 points to Newcastle who remain in top spot on 49 points.

It also marked the last game of the year for Central Coast’s Mackenzie Bolger and Shai Rabinowitz, as they return to North America to commence their northern hemisphere hockey seasons.

The Northstars host the Mustangs in their final regular season game of the year on Saturday and can finish with a maximum of 52 points. The Rhinos close out their 2024 campaign at home against the Ice Dogs on Saturday and the Mustangs on Sunday.

Mustangs, Ice down Dogs in final home games at Icehouse

The Mustangs and Ice have both come away with a win over the Sydney Ice Dogs, in their final home games at the Icehouse last weekend.

The Mustangs drew first blood on Saturday in the first 20 minutes thanks to Brad Apps’ 9^th goal of the year, which would end up being the lone goal of the period for either team.

The scoring floodgates opened in the second, as Dmitri Kuleshov tied the game 1-1 early. His effort was followed instantly by Vadim Virjassov’s 10^th of the year just 30 seconds later restoring the Mustangs lead. Scott Timmins, Grant Toulmin and Matt Armstrong traded goals to close out a high-scoring period 4-2 to the Mustangs.

The Ice Dogs conceded another goal to Timmins’ midway through the final 20 minutes, but mounted a late comeback through Connor Lee and Jerry Zhou’s first AIHL goal to pull it back within one.

Arvid Ljung was pulled for the extra skater for the Ice Dogs to try and force overtime with less than a minute remaining, but Matt Armstrong iced the game with an empty-net goal for a 5-4 Mustangs win in their final home game for 2024.

The Melbourne Ice didn’t make things easier for Sydney on Sunday, with a 9-2 rout in their last skate on home ice before the AIHL Finals.

A goal fest in the first 20 minutes, 6 to the Ice and 2 to the Dogs, ended up being the peak of the game.

It tapered off in the second with Ellesse Carini and Jamie Bourke inflicting more damage on the scoresheet, with Joey Hughes adding one final goal in a one-sided affair.

The third period nearly boiled over with Jake Doornbos and Tatsunoshin Ishida almost engaging in a goalie fight at centre ice.

The Melbourne Ice face the Bears in a potential finals preview in Sydney before rematching the Ice Dogs on Sunday. The Dogs also take on Central Coast at Erina on Saturday afternoon.

Brave drop Rhinos in final road game

The Canberra Brave have defeated the Central Coast Rhinos 7-2 in their final road game for 2024, to keep pace with the Northstars at the top of the Rurak Conference.

It was the Rhinos who got the jump on the visitors with a goal through Adrian Sebag early in the first period, for a 1-0 Central Coast lead. He would be answered by Jake Ratcliffe shortly thereafter for a 1-1 tie at the first intermission.

It would be all Canberra from there on in. Despite a lone reply from Alex Wardlaw midway through the second, the Brave turned on 4 goals in the third period and two goals in the third for a 7-2 demolition of the Rhinos, sweeping the season series 4-0.

Austin Cangelosi led the way with 4 points, while Tyler Kubara added 3 assists. Anand Oberoi stopped 42 from 49 shots in the loss, while Aleksi Toivonen made 25 saves on 27 shots for the Brave.

The Brave close out 2024 with a pair of games at home against the Adrenaline and can finish with a maximum of 50 points. They can take top spot if the Northstars lose in regulation against the Mustangs.