Team GB v Ukraine at Lee Valley (Photo by Rox Photography)
The
tournament saw GB international debuts for Dan Hartshorn and Max Phillips-Brant
and a first start in the Mens / Mixed team for Kirsty van der Poll who had
previously played for the GB Women’s team in the 2025 World Championships.
The
full GB squad for the tournament was:
- Karl Nicholson (Manchester Mayhem)
- Ben O'Brien (Sheffield Steelkings)
- Jon le Galloudec (Cardiff Huskies)
- Dean Lahan (Manchester Mayhem)
- Josh Davies (Cardiff Huskies)
- Felicity Gregory (Manchester Mayhem)
- Max Phillips-Brant (Sheffield Steelkings)
- Mark Colquitt (Manchester Mayhem)
- Shannon Mitchell (Cardiff Huskies)
- Kirsty van der Poll (Sheffield Steelkings)
- Dani Czernuszka-Watts (Cardiff Huskies)
- Callum Shakespeare (Peterborough Phantoms)
Netminders
- Bryan Hackworth (Sheffield Steelkings)
- Dan Hartshorn (Manchester Mayhem)
- Nicole Hill (Cardiff Huskies)
Coach:
Peggy Assinck
It
was a special occasion for the brand new Ukraine team as it was one their first
outings since forming a number of months ago.
The team is made up entirely of
military personnel who have been injured in the ongoing war against Russia and
are based around the Nezlamni (Unbroken) Rehabilitation Center in Lviv.
Things
got off to a good start in the first game on the Friday afternoon as Karl
Nicholson gave Team GB an early lead after just 10 seconds of the first period.
Ukraine equalised on 14 minutes with a goal from Yurii Yaskovets and the score
remained 1-1 at the first period break.
Ukraine
scored again on 25 minutes with the only goal of the second period from Oleksandr
Zhavrenko and then Yevhenii Shvab extended their lead on 41 minutes. Despite
creating chances of their own, Team GB were unable to get past the strong
Ukraine defence and the first game ended up as a 1-3 win to the visitors.
The
second game - on Saturday morning - saw a goalless first period but Ukraine
took control with two goals from Viktor Drachuk within 90 seconds of each other
right at the start of the second.
Ben
O’Brien pulled a goal back on 28 minutes but GB weren’t able to build on this
and a third Ukraine goal 2 minutes into the third period from Zhavrenko rounded
off the scoring for the game.
Saturday
afternoon saw an exhibition game to showcase the GB Women’s team against a
composite side made up of GB and Ukraine men’s players and coaches.
The
GB Women’s team for the occasion was:
Nicole
Hill, Davina Hall, Helen McGivern, Freya Austin, Kirsty van der Poll, Felicity
Gregory, Dani Czernuszka-Watts, Peggy Assinck, Emily McLean and Nicola Terrell.
The
game ended in a 0-7 defeat for the GB Women, although they put in a battling
display and did good work in promoting women’s para ice hockey.
Game
3 of the main series was played on Saturday evening and started off with
another goal-less first period.
Ukraine
scored twice in the second period – with goals from Oleksandr Zhavnenko and
Viktor Dykyi – and Yurii Yaskovets added another in the third period for a 0-3
victory.
In
the Ukraine goal, Taras Hryshchuk recorded a 6-shot shut-out while GB netminder
Bryan Hackworth did well to turn away 25 of the 28 shots that he faced.
The
final game on Sunday afternoon was very close and, despite chances for both
sides, the score remained 0-0 after two periods.
Ukraine
finally broke the deadlock on 33 minutes with a goal from Zhavnenko and then
Dykyi doubled the lead on 42 minutes for a final score of 0-2.
Ukraine
netminder Roman Humeniuk celebrated a 5-shot shut -out while Dan Hartshorn and
Nicole Hill notched up a goal-free period each before Hartshorn conceded two in
the final period.
Ukraine’s
Yevhenii Shvab was the tournament’s top points scorer overall with 7 points
from his 1 goal and 6 assists.
Oleksandr
Zhavnenko was the top goal scorer with 4 goals while Viktor Dykyi also finished
on 4 points with 2 goals and 2 assists. Viktor Drachuk and Yurii Yaskovets both
notched up 2 +1 and Viktor Deineka contributed an assist.
The
Ukraine netminding duo of Hryshchuk and Humeniuk was particularly impressive as they only
conceded 2 goals in 180 minutes of play and recorded two successive shut-outs
in the final two games.
The
GB side was missing a few regular players but gave a good account of themselves
over the 4 games. The tournament also offered some useful game time against
strong opposition for the women players ahead of the Women’s World
Championships that will be held in Australia in November.
