Jan 22, 2018 | GeoffRead | 767 views
KnightHawks Drop Tough Loss to West London Rivals
The KnightHawks needed to win last night's match up against their friendly rivals, West London 23, in order to have a chance to qualify for the upper bracket in the playoffs. Unfortunately, they dropped a tough 3-2 decision despite a good effort.
The team's Achilles' heal over the last month or so has been a lack of scoring punch, and that problem continued to dog the KnightHawks on this night. The play was fairly even, but the KnightHawks did not generate a lot of grade A chances as West #23 kept the KnightHawks' forwards on the periphery.
The result was that, despite a good game from goaltender Kaelen Walsh, the KnightHawks were down 2-0 going into the final frame. They did, mind you, show great character in battling back in the third. The KnightHawks pressed the attack, forcing turnovers with a stronger forecheck. Sam Schafer stood out for his bumping and grinding and Kayden Keating was using his speed to good effect. This paid off when Owen Askew broke loose from a scrum and deposited a shot through the five-hole to narrow the gap to 2-1.
Even better: less than a minute later, Jack Peterkin came down the ice on a rush and caught the #23 goaltender moving to follow him across the crease, shooting against the grain back to the short side. This evened the score at 2-2.
But alas, victory was not to be. Gregory Nicolis was caught defending one on one against big lanky power forward Matthew Douwes from West #23 and actually did a pretty good job aided by Keating who came streaking back with blinding speed. But Douwes, a smooth stickhandler with a fearsome shot, stopped short as both Nicolis and Keating overskated him and stepped towards the slot before ripping a wrister over Walsh's shoulder.
Alas, the KnightHawks could not climb out of this deficit and the game ended 3-2.
There were some positives to take away from the loss. Scorer James Nielsen did not find the back of the net, but he was rewarded for his hustle, particularly on the backcheck, with player of the game honours. Troy Price and Zoe Read continued to be the team's most dogged combination, harassing #23 into multiple turnovers throughout the game. Connor Devlin flashed a good wrist shot from in close but unfortunately fired the puck over the crossbar. Paul Steele struggled mightily in the first but recovered to play a quietly effective game thereafter, putting himself in the right position and moving the puck up the boards. Anderson Watt, Aiden Hayes, and Brandon Miles all showed their mobility and puck-moving skills on the back end.
Unfortunately, on this night these efforts were not enough for the win. But hopefully, the KnightHawks can learn from this loss, improve their consistency, and turn things around next weekend.
Go KnightHawks go!