Warriors in tight battle with the Blazers
On Friday 15th March our Warriors 2 team travelled to Ice Sheffield to take on Blazers ‘B’ in the first ever meeting between the two teams.
Having won their first two games of the 2023-24 season, the Warriors had every reason to be confident going into this game.
The starting line-up for this game was Andrew Hughes (netminder), Luke Cadman (D), Louis Feather (D), Tom Cokill (F), Chris Scampton (F) and Lewis Astill (F).
1st period
From the opening exchanges it was clear this was going to be a closely fought game between two evenly matched teams.
Warriors’ netminder Andrew Hughes (who was making his Warriors debut) pulled off some great saves during the period to keep the team in the game and at the other end, the Warriors managed to break the dead-lock.
The puck was fed through to #81 David Gorog who evaded the covering defender and smashed it low into the net. A great start for the Warriors!
The remainder of the period was a stalemate despite there being a ton of chances at both ends.
Blazers 0 Warriors 1
2nd period
The second period picked up where the first ended, with both teams trading chances and both netminders pulling off some great saves.
But it was the Warriors who were the more clinical. As the puck dropped loose in the Blazers zone, #81 Gorog met the puck with a slap-shot that caught the netminder by surprise and went into the back of the net. 0-2 Warriors!
At the 30 minute mark, the Warriors changed goalies with Hughes making way for Joe Quinn.
Whilst things were going well for the team, there were some early warning signs as the Blazers were now starting to take control of the game and were creating the majority of the chances. But, the Warriors held on and maintained a clean sheet going into the final period.
Blazers 0 Warriors 2
David Gorog
Scored a goal in each of the first two periods.
3rd period
The game was finely poised going into the final period. Whilst the Warriors had the upper hand, it was whether they had enough energy in the tank to keep the Blazers at bay.
In the final period, the home team enjoyed plenty of puck possession and scoring opportunities. The Warriors defended stoically but after 52 minutes, the Blazers got their goal to make it 1-2.
Buoyed by this and smelling blood, the Blazers kept pushing forward in search of the equaliser. The Warriors needed the insurance goal but were limited to only occasional attacks.
Eventually, the Blazers tied the game with a second goal late in the game and the Warriors were now out of steam.
Fortunately for the visitors, they were able to frustrate the Sheffield team and run down the clock to make it a tied game.
Blazers 2 Warriors 2
Points scorers:
David Gorog 2+0
Andrew Everson
Warriors’ player of the game
David Gorog
Captain’s player of the game
The Player of the Game for the Warriors, as selected by the Blazers, went to Andrew Everson for a great performance. The Captain’s helmet went to David Gorog who scored both Warriors’ goals. Well played guys.
We should include honourable mentions to netminders’ Andrew Hughes and Joe Quinn, who both kept the Warriors in the game with some outstanding stops.
Sheffield Blazers recorded the game and have put together an edited version of the game highlights if you would like to watch:
Thanks to Sheffield Blazers for a good game of hockey.
The next game for our Warriors 2 team is:
