Koryos Cup : Ice Wolves (white) beat Warriors (black)
On Saturday 27th July 2024, our Warriors’ black team travelled to Bradford Ice Arena to play in the Koryos Cup against the Ice Wolves’ white team.
Our black team previously played against the Ice Wolves white team on Saturday 13th April 2024, losing 8-1.
What is the Koryos Cup?
The Koryos Cup is a round-robin tournament being contested between Leeds Warriors and Bradford Ice Wolves’ development teams.
Both teams have been divided into two, to form a four team tournament.
Leeds have a Grey and a Black team, whilst Bradford have a Blue and a White team.
All games will be played at 10:30pm on Saturday nights at Bradford Ice Arena.
View the upcoming fixtures here.
Warriors Black team roster:
Kieran High - NM
Andis Jansons
Heather McCarten
Ivans Lebedjoks
Matt Dudley
Ash Davies
Craig Baker
Dan Reid
Fran Humphries
Sam Walker
Zach Huntley
1st period
With only 1 minute 37 seconds on the clock the Ice Wolves white team opened the scoring. But the Warriors dug in and the remainder of the period was a tight affair with both teams engaged in a stalemate. The period ended with only one goal between the teams.
Ice Wolves White 1 Warriors Black 0
2nd period
The second period was another hard fought battle with not much between the teams. But there was a glut of 3 goals within the space of a minute. This started when the Warriors equalised on 32 minutes and 43 seconds. Ivans Lebedjoks scoring from Sam Walker and Matthew Dudley assists.
But the celebration didn’t last long. Within 56 seconds the Ice Wolves went ahead at 2-1 followed by a 3rd goal 13 seconds later. 3-1 to Ice Wolves. The Warriors bravely kept the Ice Wolves at bay for the remainder of the period, but couldn’t reduce the deficit.
Ice Wolves White 3 Warriors Black 1
3rd period
With a two goal deficit going into the final period, the Warriors needed a strong finish to the game. None of the players heads went down and they continued to battle.
The team started well. After only 5 minutes, the Warriors pulled a goal back to make it 3-2. Making his debut, Sam Walker scored his first goal for the team, with the assist coming from Lebedjoks. Unfortunately, within a couple of minutes, the Ice Wolves restored their two goal lead to make it 4-2.
The Warriors continued to work hard, trying to reduce the deficit, but as the final buzzer approached, the Ice Wolves extended their lead to 5-2 on 58 minutes, 20 seconds. With only 1 minute, 40 seconds left on the clock, the team could have been forgiven if they had just run down the clock, but they didn’t - they pushed forward and scored twice. The first goal came with 42 seconds left - and the second with just one second left! Both goals were unassisted - from Dudley and Lebedjoks.
If only there had been a few more minutes left. Maybe the Warriors could have tied the game. The team showed a real ‘never-say-die’ spirit, battling to the last second.
Final score:
Ice Wolves White 5 Warriors Black 4
Points scorers:
Ivans Lebedjoks 2+1
Matthew Dudley 1+1
Sam Walker 1+1
Sam Walker
Warriors’ player of the game
The Player of the Game for the Warriors, as selected by the Ice Wolves, went to debutant Sam Walker, who picked up 1+1. Well played Sam!
Thanks to the Ice Wolves for hosting this game and the series as a whole. Here’s to another few weeks of competitive development hockey!
The next game for one of our two Koryos Cup teams is on 17th August 2024 between Warriors GREY v Ice Wolves BLUE.
Game details below:
