Warriors 3 in epic battle with Ice Wolves
On Saturday 21st December 2024 our development team travelled to Bradford to take on the Ice Wolves in a challenge game.
This was our development teams’ 3rd game in as many weeks, having taken on Blackburn Renegades on the 7th and then travelled to Peterborough on the 14th December.
In team news, quite a few Warriors players were unavailable for the game - Ash Davies, Brendan Hullah, Lisa Speed, Richard Knight, Jonjo Marshall, Freddy Monk, Dean Cadman, Heather McCarten, Lee Worsnup, Ivans Lebedjoks,, Sam Walker, Matty Meadows, Simon Davis, Stella Giwisser, Zach Huntley and Tomasz Molenda.
But despite that, the team had enough available players to ice three lines.
Dressed players:
Kieran High (NM), Ash Farmer, Charlie Tang, Dan Read, Dimitri Shalashilin, Connor Brocklebank, Craig Baker, Gary Clough, Andis Jansons, Phil Bradley, Phil Pearce, Rich Guttridge, Jared Weldon, Josh Moss, Matt Dudley, Paul Eaglestone and Sam Stokes.
1st period
The opening period started with both teams feeling each other out. But it was the Ice Wolves who drew first blood, opening the scoring in the 5th minute and then doubling it on 8 minutes.
What seemed like an early blow for the Warriors, seemed to be a catalyst for things to come. 2 minutes later, the returning Matt Dudley scored from a Josh Moss assist to put the Warriors back in the game.
The Warriors were also far more resolute in defence, which resulted in the remainder of the game being played out as a stalemate.
Ice Wolves 2 Warriors 1
2nd period
The middle period was a big one for the Warriors, but it didn’t start well as they went down 3-1 when the Ice Wolves scored on 26 minutes.
But the Warriors really sprung into life from here. Within 2 minutes of the restart, they reduced the deficit to one goal when Paul Eaglestone scored an unassisted goal and on 31 minutes, the Warriors completed the comeback, drawing level at 3-3 after an unassisted Sam Stokes goal.
With the score even, it was a tightly contested and intense affair for the remainder of the period.
But with only 20 seconds left in the period, Stokes shot the Warriors into a 3-4 lead! Three unanswered goals had taken the Warriors from 3-1 down to 3-4 ahead!
Ice Wolves 3 Warriors 4
3rd period
Going into the final period, it was all to play for and could still go either way. The next goal was crucial. Could the Warriors extend their lead or would the Ice Wolves equalise?
This was a hard fought period with no team wanting to make a crucial mistake that might cost their team.
But the hosts were in determined mood and this showed when they bagged an equalising goal on 42 minutes to make it 4-4.
With the momentum now with the Ice Wolves, the Warriors must have felt like the clock was ticking down extra slowly! But, the Warriors showed great resolve to frustrate the hosts for the remaining 18 minutes to close the game down and take the draw.
Final score :
Ice Wolves 4 Warriors 4
Points scorers:
Sam Stokes 2+0
Matt Dudley 1+0
Paul Eaglestone 1+0
Josh Moss 0+1
Probably a fair result overall. Great effort from our development team and what a 2nd period that was! It’s good to see the goals and assists being spread around the team. Shout-out to Sam Stokes for bagging 2 goals, which he can add to the goal he scored on his recent debut! Well done.
Paul Eaglestone
Player of the game
Sam Stokes
Captain’s player of the game
Player of the Game, as selected by the Ice Wolves, went to Paul Eaglestone - and the Captain’s Helmet went to Sam Stokes. Well played guys.
Thanks to the Ice Wolves for another great battle!
Not long to wait for our development team’s next game! See the details below:
Challenge game:
Saturday 11th January 2025
Warriors v Kingston Reapers
@ Planet Ice, Leeds
Face-off : 22:30
All Warriors 3 fixtures can be found here : Fixtures and Results
