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| Riverside Raiders' Eemeli Vuorihovi (#24) put the Huskies goal under pressure (Photo by @haganovaphoto) |
Sunday 7th May – Summer Classic Cup: Riverside Raiders 4 – Halton Huskies 3 (PS)
The Riverside Raiders moved clear at the top of the Summer Classic Cup group table after a thrilling victory over the Halton Huskies at Planet Ice Widnes on Sunday.
There was very little to choose between the teams throughout the game and, in the end, the result had to be decided in a nerve wracking penalty shoot out.
The Raiders were the home team for the game but, as the Huskies also use the Widnes rink as their home base, there was a good vocal support for both teams.
With local rink pride at stake as well as the cup points, the opening phase was very tense as both teams tested each other out and it wasn’t until the 7th minute that the first breakthrough actually came.
Thomas Pendlebury fired the Huskies into the lead but it didn’t last long as David Geroc equalised for the Raiders just 2 minutes later. Two minutes after that, the Raiders went in front as Louis Grogan fired in during a delayed penalty call and the home team held a very narrow 2-1 lead at the first period break.
The second period was just as closely fought and the game could easily have gone either way but, as it was, the Huskies made the more of their chances on goal. Brendan Lucas levelled the scores on 24 minutes and then, with just 2 minutes left on the clock, Jake Berry edged the visitors back in front.
The Raiders rallied after the second break and equalised with a well-taken goal from Ben Donkin on 45 minutes. The tension mounted around the rink as the clock ticked down – with both sides desperate to try and score a late winning goal.
However, the score stubbornly remained 3-3 after 60 minutes and the tie had to be decided by a nail biting penalty shoot out, with 3 players from each team taking shots.
Adam Jenkins fired home the first penalty shot for the Raiders and that turned out to be the winning goal, as all of the other penalties were saved.
The result means that the Raiders head the Cup group with 2 wins from 2 games with Halton Huskies and Blackburn Buccaneers both on 1 win each, with all teams having beaten bottom team Hull Knights.
The Raiders are next in action on Saturday 3rd June when they are away to Hull, 5pm face off, and are then at home to Blackburn Buccaneers the following Saturday 10th June – 4.15pm start – at Planet Ice Widnes.
Raiders Line Up & Stats: Luke Pengelly (4PIM), David Geroc (1+0), Emma Pearson, Andrew Birch, Adam Jenkins (1PS), Alex Newman, Eemeli Vuorihovi, Louis Grogan (1+0) Stephen Harvey, Rory Sillery (2PIM), Ian Thirkettle, Alain Barthelemy, Shawn McBride, Shaun Sillery, Ben Donkin (1+0, 4PIM), Ratislav Geroc
Netminder: Thirkettle – 60 mins, 42 SA, 3 GA, 3 GAA, 92.86 Sv%
Huskies Line Up & Stats: Jonathan Lomax (2PIM), Robert Lomax (2PIM), Jeff Chapman Watson, John Buckell, Brendan Lucas (1+0), Conor Cooper (2PIM), Adam Darbyshire, Rebecca Donnelley, Anthony Hough, Stephen Hay, Thomas Pendlebury (1+0), Jack Davies, Matthew Kohler, Nathan Hewitt, Edward Ridding, Jake Berry (1+1, 2PIM), Callum Fraine.
Netminder: Darbyshire – 60 mins, 39 SA, 3 GA, 3 GAA, 92.31 Sv%
