Photo: Injected Ideas Photography

Bears take full 6 points and second Battle of Sydney

The Sydney Bears posted a couple of big wins over the Ice Dogs and Rhinos respectively, defeating their crosstown rivals 9-2 in a sold-out Battle of Sydney on Friday night.

In a feisty affair at the Macquarie Ice Arena, the Bears jumped out to a 4-1 lead before the first intermission and never took the foot off of the accelerator. A 5-goal second period was the sealer, with Noah Moncrieff completing his first AIHL hat-trick and Jeremy Brucker adding a pair of goals. Alex MacDonald and Grant Toulmin scored for the Dogs in response, in Alec Stephenson’s 200^th AIHL game.

The Bears backed that up on Saturday with a win 8-4 win over Central Coast on Saturday, in a close affair until the third period. The Rhinos stunned the Bears and jumped out to a 4-3 lead midway through the second period. Goals from Hayden Sayers, Aziz Baazzi, Andrew Smardon and Mackenzie Bolger putting the Rhinos in front.

A pair of goals from Noah Moncrieff and singles from Tomas Landa, Adam Kadlec, Tom Moncrieff and Samuli Vainionpaa put the Bears over the top in the end, taking the points and third spot in the Hellyer Conference.

Sydney travel to Melbourne to take on the Mustangs and Ice in a two-game road trip, while the Rhinos head to Brisbane for a double header with the Lightning.


Photo: Phil Taylor
 
Thunder down Mustangs, come up short against Ice

The Perth Thunder extended their hot start to the 2024 AIHL season, defeating the Melbourne Mustangs 5-2 in front of a sold-out O’Brien Icehouse on Saturday night.

In a game of firsts for Perth, Ville Tenosalmi had a first ever AIHL hat-trick and Skyler Luo grabbed his first ever AIHL goal along with an assist, as the Thunder turned it on in the second period to take home a 3-goal win. Dean Klomp and Tom Flack answered for the orange and black, who suffered their first defeat of the year.

Leo Bertein was outstanding in net for Perth, with the Frenchman shutting the door on Melbourne with a herculean 52-save effort. Seb Woodlands made 35 stops on 40 shots at the other end in the loss.

The Melbourne Ice then turned the tables on the Thunder, posting a 7-3 victory on Sunday to remain undefeated and at the top of the Hellyer Conference with 4-straight victories.

The Ice jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first period with goals from Joakim erdugan, Jeff Solow, Christian Pansino and Lliam Webster, who crossed the 200-AIHL goal mark. Erdugan and Webster added a second each and Joey Hughes contributed a late one to take the win and 3-points to extend the Ice’s unbeaten run. Tatsunoshin Ishida stopped 23 of 26 in the win for Melbourne.

Zane Jones, Jeremiah Addison and Ville Tenosalmi all tallied for the Thunder, with Bertein stopping 29 of 36 in the loss.

The Thunder host Adelaide next Saturday while the Mustangs and Ice host the Sydney Bears on Saturday and Sunday.


Lightning strike twice with sweep of Brave in Canberra

The Brisbane Lightning have taken 6 points in Canberra at the weekend, with a pair of 5-2 victories to move into second spot in the Rurak Conference after 6 games.

Brisbane jumped out to an early 1-0 lead thanks to Mitchell Dyck, before Canberra went ahead thanks to Justin Maylan and Jackson Gallagher. A 3-goal second period broke the game open for Brisbane thanks to a pair from Anthony Barnes and another to Arum Rapchuk, to make it 4-2 at the second intermission. Anthony Santilli added the lone goal of the third period to seal the win for Brisbane, with Curtis Meger stopping 28 of 30 in net.

The Brave applied the pressure early in the first period during the rematch on Sunday, with Matt Buskas opening the scoring with his second goal of the season, before Santilli added his second respectively to tie the game 1-1 after 20 minutes. Justin Maylan and Anthony Barnes scored during the second as the Lightning poured 16 shots on Alex Tetreault in the Brave net. It wasn’t until the third period where Brisbane broke free, thanks to a short-handed goal from Arum Rapchuk. Patrick Popovics added two goals in the space of a minute to put the game beyond doubt for the Lightning, with a 5-2 victory.

Meger saved 29 of 31 shots while Tetreault went 29 from 34.

The Lightning move into third place in the Rurak Conference and will host the Central Coast Rhinos in a double header in Brisbane this weekend, while the Brave are at home to the undefeated Northstars on Saturday.


Photo: Injected Ideas Photography
 
Dogs get first win for 2024

The Sydney Ice Dogs bounced back from their loss to the Bears on Friday night, with a 4-1 win at home over the Adelaide Adrenaline, to get their first victory for 2024 in Zach Boyle’s 150^th game for Adelaide.

Sydney went down 1-0 just 8 minutes in, thanks to Julian Friedrich’s first goal of the year on the power play. The Dogs had two power play chances in the first period but couldn’t convert, with the score remaining 1-0 after the first. The Dogs would find an equaliser thanks to Alex Macdonald just three minutes into the second period, and then would spend six minutes killing off penalties to stay in the game at the second intermission.

Adelaide turned on an offensive barrage in a feisty third period with Ljung facing an onslaught of shots, and Billy Cliff and Daniel O’Handley dropping the mitts in a short but spirited scrap. Despite the pressure, Macdonald scored just 15 seconds off the opening third period face-off to make it 2-1. Connor Lee added a short-handed goal less than a minute later, with Grant Toulmin adding an insurance marker to give Sydney the 3-points at home.

Ljung turned aside 50 of 51 Adelaide shots in the win, while Jeremy Friedrich stopped 20 of 24 in the loss.

The Ice Dogs head up to Newcastle for a bout with the Northstars on Sunday while Adelaide head west to Perth for one game with the Thunder on Saturday.


Photo: Jess Fuller
 
Northstars hold off determined Adrenaline in overtime

The Newcastle Northstars have remained unbeaten in their start to 2024, with a nail-biting 4-3 overtime victory over the Adelaide Adrenaline at home.

Newcastle jumped out to a 2-0 lead midway through the second period, thanks to goals from Beau Taylor adding his 6^th for the year and Wehebe Darge grabbing his 9th. It finished 2-0 after 20 minutes.

The Adrenaline response in the second period overwhelmed the Northstars, as Joey MacDougall got them on the board less than a minute in. Former Northstar Josh Adkins added two power play goals on consecutive Northstar penalties, to put the visitors up 3-2 and turn the tables by outshooting Newcastle 14-5 for the period.

A tense third period ensued with both sides unable to convert on two power plays each. This was until Darge sent the game to overtime with a goal with just 4:35 remaining in regulation. Aiden Wagner would prove the saviour for Newcastle just 30 seconds into the extra period, getting his 4^th for the year and the 4^th for Newcastle to maintain their unbeaten run.

Adelaide play Perth in Perth next Saturday, while Newcastle face the Brave in the ACT and then the Ice Dogs back in the Hunter on Sunday.