Ben Campbell releases his shot. Photo by IceHockeyMedia.
Whitley Warriors achieved a convincing 8-0 victory over Nottingham Lions at the National Ice Centre on Sunday evening.
Travelling to Nottingham with nineteen skaters and netminders Jordan Boyle and Sam Elsom, Whitley Warriors’ skilful line-up was without Captain Dean Holland and defenceman Craig Johnson who were unavailable for this trip whilst Player-Coach David Longstaff coached from the bench. Meanwhile, the Lions took to the ice with a squad of nineteen; forwards Harry Hopkins, Bailey Challans and Cameron Pywell amongst those prepared to confront Longstaff’s men.
Heading into the first period with much confidence, the Warriors were quick to establish a lead through stand-in Captain Ben Campbell who buried the puck on 1:11 to open his team’s account. Continuing to test netminder Josh Crane, forward Callum Watson fired at the Lion before Campbell bagged his second of the contest on 4:38 after forwards Callum Queenan and Watson engaged in some neat build-up play to set up the left winger. As a result of Queenan moving onto this line, Ross Douglass joined Canadian Phil Edgar and forward Ross Murray, the trio working together whilst defencemen Gary Walker and Rolands Gritāns patrolled the blue line. Countering Whitley’s attacking play, Hopkins tried to find a way into Nottingham’s offensive zone but Murray intercepted before any danger arose and moments later the Warrior bore down on goal, battling Crane’s attempts to save before claiming possession to slip the puck around the netminder for 3-0. With some doubt as to the legitimacy of this goal, the officials took time to consider before allowing Murray’s effort to stand. Unhappy with this decision, Crane picked up a ten-minute misconduct penalty which was served by sixteen-year-old Louie Newell. Dominating, Campbell twice tried his luck, first attempting to flick the puck in at the post before challenging Crane with a long range shot. Youngster Thomas Fraser also enjoyed some ice time before Edgar shot through the middle of Nottingham’s defensive zone but Crane withstood this pressure. The Warriors then went shorthanded as forward Anthony Wetherell was sidelined for hooking just past the midpoint of the period and, just twenty two seconds after successfully killing this penalty, Whitley lost Campbell to the sin bin for the same offence. His time served, Campbell quickly broke free from the penalty box in an attempt to make amends for his misdemeanour whilst Boyle was called into action at the other end of the ice, producing a save to keep out forward Jack Crowston. Shortly afterwards, the shot stopper picked up a tripping penalty which was served by Fraser but again Whitley killed the penalty with ease to leave the score line at 3-0 heading into the first interval.
Trying to open the second period with a goal, Nottingham’s Cameron Pywell found himself with an excellent chance which was fired wide of Boyle’s net. Queenan responded with a shot at Crane but the Warriors went shorthanded soon after when Murray fired the puck out of play to incur a delay of the game penalty. After Whitley’s successful penalty kill, the forward’s return to the ice was extremely brief as less than two minutes later he was sidelined for kneeing on 26:39. Edgar instantly clashed with forward Thomas Palmer on the back of this decision and the duo were respectively sinbinned for roughing and unsportsmanlike conduct. This did not faze the Warriors however as the outfit collected a shorthanded goal just eight seconds before returning to full strength, Campbell seizing his hat-trick by driving through the Lions’ defensive zone to play a shot across Crane, the puck chiming the pipe on its way into the net. Just over two minutes later, defenceman Tyler Poole was brought down by Douglass who was sidelined for hooking. Another wasteful power play from the home team allowed Whitley to apply their creativity in their offensive zone so it was little surprise when Gritāns made it 5-0 on 36:33, this time intricate play between versatile defenceman Kyle Ross and Edgar allowing the Latvian to collect the puck and spin to execute a seamless backhand goal.
Facing off for the final period, Whitley allowed shot stopper Sam Elsom his first ice time of the season and he was soon put to work by Nottingham. Watson then supplied the puck to Campbell who fired at Crane’s chest. The Lions countered with a breakaway through Palmer but the forward was stopped in his tracks by defenceman Liam Smedley who swiftly claimed possession. Crane followed with a pad save to keep Gritāns at bay but there was little he could do when Campbell’s wrist shot leapt into the roof of his net to give the stand-in captain his fourth goal of the game on 44:45, Watson and Queenan assisting. Watson tried to get onto the scoresheet soon after but his shot drifted high and wide after linking up with Campbell. Murray backed up this play by firing at Crane and Whitley continued their attack until Alternate Captain Jordan Barnes was punished for hooking on 48:00. Fraser responded to this by attempting to grab a shorthanded goal but Crane comfortably saved. Barnes then exited the penalty box and skated into his offensive zone on the lookout for a goal with Campbell in support, but to no avail. This prompted the Lions to call a timeout but it made little difference as Edgar shot unassisted through Nottingham’s busy defensive zone to make it 7-0 less than two minutes later. Head Coach Matt Bradbury then switched Crane for seventeen-year-old netminder Luca Sheldon but almost immediately the Lions incurred a penalty as Challans was considered guilty of tripping forward Ben Richards. Just twenty six seconds into their power play, and fifty seconds after their previous goal, the Warriors completed their scoring as Gritāns notched his second of the evening with a slap shot, Wetherell and Barnes assisting, to allow Whitley to finish the game with a comfortable 8-0 victory.
Stats
Shots on goal
Lions: 17
Warriors: 59
Points
Warriors:
Ben Campbell (4+0), Rolands Gritāns (2+0), Phil Edgar (1+2), Ross Murray (1+0), Kyle Ross (0+2), Callum Watson (0+1), Liam Smedley (0+1), Anthony Wetherell (0+1), Jordan Barnes (0+1), Harry Harley (0+1), Callum Queenan (0+1)
Penalty minutes
Lions: 14
Warriors: 16
Man of the Match
Lions: Josh Crane
Warriors: Ben Campbell