Riverside Raiders won the Summer Classic Play Off Title in 2017 (Photo by Chris Johnstone)
Friday 11th November – Challenge Match: Shropshire Huskies 4 – Riverside Raiders 3
The Widnes-based Riverside Raiders played their first game in over 3 years when they travelled to face the Shropshire Huskies in Telford on Friday night – narrowly losing out 4-3 in a closely fought challenge match.
As with all other recreational teams, the Raiders were forced into hibernation during the Covid lockdown and have spent the last year undergoing a period of rebuilding. The new look squad includes a mixture of familiar faces and some exciting new players - with a blend of youth and experience - and they had their first outing in a special Armed Force Night game at the Telford rink played in front of a sizeable crowd in aid of the Royal British Legion.
The Raiders took the lead in the 4th minute with a goal from Rory Sillery - the former Widnes Wild Academy Under 18 player who was making his full debut for the team - but Shropshire hit back just seconds later and then edged into a narrow lead on 12 minutes.
This was a really entertaining game with end to end action throughout but there were no more goals in the first period and, indeed, not until mid-way through the second when the hosts struck again to lead 3-1 on 32 minutes. The Raiders players’ heads did not drop however and they pulled a goal back almost straight away with Adam Jenkins taking advantage of a delayed penalty call to narrow the deficit to just one goal.
A fourth goal for the Huskies on 35 minutes restored their 2-goal cushion and it might have been more had it not been for a superb display by Tegan Lavery in the Raiders goal. The former Wild women, Deeside and Blackburn league netminder faced an incredible 23 shots in the second period, stopping all but two of them.
The third period was very tight with chances on goal for both teams. The Raiders scored again on 47 minutes with a goal from another debutant, Kai Gennoe – a former Solihull Barons U18s player and younger brother of Wild women’s forward Preston.
There was still plenty of time left for the Widnes-based side to mount a comeback but the Huskies shut up shop at this point and sat back to protect their lead.
The final score of 4-3 represents a very good result for the new-look Raiders against a very strong Shropshire Huskies side.
Netminder Tegan Lavery received the Most Valuable Player (MVP) Award for her superb display in goal for the Raiders, in which she turned away 41 of the 45 shots that she faced for a 91.11 Save %
Raiders Team & Stats: Elliot Michaels (0+1), Geraint Evans (0+1), Rory Sillery (1+0, 2PIM), Adam Jenkins (1+0), Ben Donkin (0+1, 2PIM), Luke Pengelly (2PIM), Nick Jackson, Emeli Vuorihovi, Tegan Lavery (NM - 45 shots), Andrew Birch, Alain Barthelemy, Dave Priestley (0+1), Kai Gennoe (1+1), Mike Teinert
Following a three year break from competition, the Riverside Raiders plan to take part in the 2023 Summer Classic Cup, a tournament in which they won the Play Off title back in 2017. Full squad details and fixture dates will be announced nearer the time.
