Warriors humbled by Vikings
On Saturday 28th January, our Warriors 1 team welcomed the Don Valley Vikings to Planet Ice Leeds for their 2nd NRHC game of the season.
As the Vikings were wearing white shirts, the Warriors wore their new away uniform - all black.
Warriors’ newest recruit, Ollie Gannon, was making his debut for the Warriors, having previously missed the season opener against the Comets due to registration delays.
The Vikings had recently lost to Cleveland Comets, whom the Warriors had beaten, so this was encouraging for the Warriors.
Despite that, the guys weren’t taking anything for granted and knew this would be a huge test as the Vikings are an established and formidable opponent.
1st period
The Vikings started aggressively and the Warriors tried to match this aggression. This resulted in quite a fiery period with lots of hits and duels between players.
Fortunately, the official was experienced and authoritative, which helped to avoid things boiling over.
24 seconds into the game saw the Vikings take an interference penalty for a late check. However, despite being short-handed, the Vikings took the lead on 54 seconds with a goal from Pawal Krawczyk, assisted by Radu-Mihai Niculpe and Samuel Hurst.
With that early blow, the Warriors knew they were in for a tough night.
From that point, the Vikings took control of the game and were 0-4 up within the first twelve minutes. Their second goal coming from Radu-Mihai Niculpe, their third from Tristan Jacobs and fourth from Captain Jack Hartley.
The Warriors were in shock and despite having another power-play, they could not make a breakthrough against the in-form Vikings goalie, Benjamin Allende.
On the plus side for the Warriors, they were able to stop the bleeding for the remainder of the period as no further goals were scored by either side.
At the end of the first period, the score was:
Warriors 0 Vikings 4
2nd period
With the Warriors 0-4 down, they had an uphill battle to get back into the game.
Coach Alex Jones changed from a four line system to two lines for the first 10 minutes of the second period, in an attempt to get back into the game.
It took only 12 seconds for this to pay off as Niks Kamaldins, with his back to the play, passed the puck into the slot where Ash Pryce was waiting to rifle a slap-shot into the net.
With the Warriors now on the board, there was renewed hope on the bench.
But the complexion of the period was about to change with 27 minutes on the clock. Warriors’ player-coach, Alex Jones became involved in a fracas with Vikings’ Jack Hartley which resulted in Jones taking a 5 minute penalty to be served by the team and a match penalty - which meant his early departure from the game.
As this incident played out, the Vikings also slotted home their fifth of the night. A goal from Thomas Robjohns, assisted by Scott Howells.
This only added to the Warriors frustrations. Less than two minutes into the penalty-kill, the Warriors picked up a another penalty for having too many men on the ice. This gave the Vikings a 5 on 3 advantage. But in the face of adversity, the Warriors defended stoically and kept the Vikings out, killing both penalties to get back to even strength.
This was only temporary though as the Warriors picked up further minor penalties for tripping and hooking which hindered their ability to get back into the game.
Having rallied and killed off those minor penalties without conceding, the Warriors had a few minutes left in the period to make an impact. But unfortunately, the Vikings scored their second of the period and sixth of the game with an unassisted goal from Pawal Krawczyk. Period score 1-2 Vikings.
Score:
Warriors 1 Vikings 6
Ash Pryce
Scored the Warriors first goal
Niks Kamaldins
Assisted Pryce’s goal
3rd period
The Warriors knew they needed a strong final period in order to put the Vikings under pressure. If they could not win the game, then respectability would be the target.
It was hoped that the Vikings may have tired going into the final period, creating an opportunity for the Warriors to make some dents into the goal deficit.
But unfortunately, the Vikings got off to a flyer. Within three minutes of the period start, Dominic Proctor got his first goal of the night (assisted by Hurst, who was now on 1+1).
At 1-7, the Warriors were now playing for pride.
But with the Warriors finding it difficult to exit their zone to start offensive plays and giving up turnovers, there were further waves of Vikings pressure. This resulted in a goal from Vikings’ Niculpe, scoring his second of the game, short handed (assisted by Krawczyk).
Undeterred, the Warriors kept fighting and got their reward when Warriors 1 debutant (and the Captain of Warriors 2) Niku Ghaemi scored the Warriors second of the night - assisted by Wes Nixon.
This took the score to 2-8 Vikings.
There were three more goals scored in the final period and all by the Vikings. Their ninth goal saw the same two players involved as their eighth, as Krawczyk scored from Niculpe’s assist.
Peter Schofield scored the Vikings tenth (assisted by Krawczyk). Their final goal came from number 7 (assisted by Robjohns)
Niku Ghaemi
Scored on his Warriors 1 debut
Wes Nixon
Assisted Ghaemi’s debut goal
Not the result or performance we’d hoped for but important to acknowledge the strength of this Vikings team. They are probably the strongest team the Warriors have faced and we expect them to make a big impact on the NRHC Cup this year.
Some notable performances from Niculpe (2+2) and Krawczyk (2+2) with Niculpe picking up the player of the game award for Vikings.
Final score:
Warriors 2 Vikings 11
Points scorers:
Ash Pryce 1+0
Niku Ghaemi 1+0
Niks Kamaldins 0+1
Wes Nixon 0+1
Lewis Pickering
Warriors’ player of the game
Ollie Gannon
Captain’s player’s of the game
Player of the game for Warriors was goalie Lewis Pickering, who came on at the start of the 2nd period and was outstanding for both those periods. Well done Lewis.
The Captain’s player of the game was our newest recruit and debutant, Ollie Gannon. Ollie was exceptional in defence. Well done.
A tough night for the Warriors. Lots can be taken from this defeat in terms of how the team can improve going forward.
Fortunately, the Warriors don’t have to wait too long to get back in action, as they welcome the visit of Blackburn Falcons next month. The Falcons are another strong and well established hockey team, so this will prove to be another stern test for the Warriors. This is Blackburn’s opening game of their campaign, so let’s see if this works in the Warriors’ favour. Game details below:
Warriors v Falcons
Saturday 11th February 2023
Face-off : 21:45
@ Planet Ice, Leeds
Free entry
