Warriors 3 put on a brave display against Cyclones
On Saturday 18th May 2024 our Warriors 3 team welcomed the Nottingham Cyclones to Planet Ice, Leeds for a challenge game.
This was the fourth time our Warriors 3 team had taken on the Nottingham Cyclones, with the first encounter taking place in July 2023 when the Warriors won 7-6 on home ice. Since then, the Cyclones have inflicted two heavy defeats on our guys.
In team news, quite a few Warriors players were unavailable for the game - Fran Humphries, Jonjo Marshall, Michael Laidler, Luke Webber, Dean Cadman, Simon Davis, Lee Worsnup, Paul Eaglestone, Richard Knight, Wayne Higgins and Tomasz Molenda.
But despite that, the team were easily able to ice three lines.
Dressed players:
Kieran High (NM), Matt Dudley (C), Ash Davies, Andis Jansons, Brendan Hullah, Connor Brocklebank, Craig Baker, Freddy Monk, Gary Clough, Heather McCarten, Ivans Lebedjoks, Dimitri Shalashilin, Jared Weldon, Lisa Speed, Josh Moss, Matty Meadows, Phil Bradley, Simon Bainbridge and Stella Giwisser.
1st period
The Cyclones started quickly. Very quickly! Before the Warriors could settle into the game, the visitors had scored. Only 20 seconds had elapsed. No further goals were scored until the 8th minute, with the contest relatively even.
But then the Cyclones started to dominate, out-shooting the hosts by 14 to 7 and this was reflected in the scoring. The away team scored four goals in four minutes to make it 0-5 by the 12th minute.
Both teams were locked in a stalemate for the following six minutes, but then Warriors’ Captain Matt Dudley went through on goal and opened the scoring for the hosts. With 18 minutes on the clock, the Warriors were now in the game. But unfortunately, with only four seconds left in the period, the Cyclones grabbed their sixth.
Warriors 1 Cyclones 6
Coaches Niks Kamaldins and Andy Giles give the team some pointers during the first interval.
2nd period
With the team five goals behind, it looked like an uphill task to get back into the game. But the Warriors were keen to keep competing and continued to fight hard in the middle frame. The team started brightly and were creating more chances than in the opening period. But despite the hosts best efforts, the Cyclones were still able to breakthrough - as they scored three unanswered goals within 11 minutes of the restart, to make it 1-9 to the visitors.
After the face-off, the Warriors charged up the ice and got their 2nd goal of the night. Ivans Lebedjoks scoring on 31 minutes with the assist coming from Ivans Jansons. 2-9. The Cyclones managed to score their 10th goal of the game on 33 minutes which rounded off the scoring for the period.
The Cyclones won the period 1-4.
Warriors 2 Cyclones 10
With the ice being cut during the second interval, both teams retired to the changing room to recharge.
3rd period
The Warriors were now playing for pride and wanted to give a good account of themselves in the final period. This was reflected in the strong start they made to the period - only 53 seconds had elapsed when Andis Jansons scored the Warriors 3rd goal of the night, giving him 1+1 for the game. 3-10 to Cyclones.
But unfortunately, scoring in the final period was exactly the same as the second period, with the Cyclones grabbing four more goals to win the period 1-4 again and end the game with a final score of 3-14 to the visitors.
Final score :
Warriors 3 Cyclones 14
This was a respectable score-line for Warriors 3 as the Cyclones are a strong development team. Also, credit to the team for not allowing the score-line to run away from them and continuing to fight. A great learning experience.
Matt Dudley
Warriors’ player of the game
Andis Jansons
Captain’s player of the game
The Player of the Game for the Warriors, as selected by the Cyclones, went to the Captain, Matt Dudley - and the Warriors’ helmet went to Andis Jansons who picked up 1+1. Well played guys.
The next game for the Warriors is in the Koryos Cup: Game details below:
