After picking up their first win of the season the day before in Slough, Lee Valley were looking to keep a streak going against a resurgent Invicta Mustangs.
Lions welcomed back Joe Weare & Chris Fox. Missing were Robin Young, Ben Gillingham & Ben Duffy.
Invicta travelled to East London featuring former Dynamo Jamie Smith, returning goalie Matthew Passmore.
1st Period: The Lions couldn’t have had a worse start to the game. After a poor turnover on the Invicta blue line, Jake Luton (0:29, assists Ferris, Dennis) raced down the left wing and fired a quick shot through the legs of a defence-man and past James Andrew to take the lead. The Mustangs continued to press aggressively but Andrew held the fort well, before the Lions began to gain a bit of momentum. Lee Valley maintained possession but weren’t getting enough shots on Passmore, and the not following up on the rebounds proved fatal again as Jake Stedman (16:38, assists Holt, Smith) to double the Mustangs lead ending the period.
2nd Period: Despite starting the period on the Power-play, the Lions weren’t able to take advantage, they were starting to get more shots on Passmore but Invicta were also creating opportunities. More aggressive pressure on the Lions defence saw a hit on James Gosling go un-punished, and the resulting turnover allowed Tom Dennis (27:17, assist Luton) to make it 3-0. Shortly after Ollie Glover was penalised for Holding the Stick and Invicta capitalised on the power-play through Danny Terry (PPG 31:16, assists Stokes, Dennis). Lions continued to probe but Passmore was holding them at bay and the period closed at 4-0 to the Mustangs.
3rd Period: With the odds heavily stacked against them, Lee Valley finally broke Passmore’s resistence through Nick Alley (42:31, assists Horter, Jones), but Invicta added another goal, again through Danny Terry (45:57, assists Ferris, Stokes). Invicta took a Too Many Men penalty and the Lions were able to score through Matt Hepburn (PPG 50:31, assists Geldart, James Hepburn). Lee Valley started to up the ante and were finally keeping consistent pressure on the Invicta goal but weren’t breaking through. Finally Chris Fox (57:17, assist Geldart) blasted a slap shot to bring the game within two goals, which made for a tense finish but Invicta held out for their second win of the season, leaving the Lions still winless at home.
GAME STATS
Final Score: Lee Valley Lions 3-5 Invicta Mustangs
Period Scores: 0-2/0-2/3-1
Shots on Goal: Lee Valley 34-37 Invicta (8-8/12-17/14-12)
Penalties: Lee Valley 4-12 Invicta
Scorers: Lee Valley – Simon Geldart (0+2), Nick Alley, Matthew Hepburn & Chris Fox (1+0), Oskar Horter, Simon Jones & James Hepburn (0+1)
Invicta – Tom Dennis (1+2), Danny Terry (2+0), Jake Luton (1+1), Michael Stokes & Aaron Ferris (0+2), Kwame Holt & Jamie Smith (0+1)
Galtending: Lee Valley – James Andrew 37 shots/5 goals, 86.49%
Invicta – Matthew Passmore 34 shots/3 goals 91.18%
Lee Valley now have two weekends off before a local rivals Haringey Racers come to Lea Bridge Road on Sunday 13th of November.
Face off at Lee Valley is at 5:30pm. Ticket and travel information can be found in the ‘Game Day’ section of our website.
You can follow the Lions on Facebook & Twitter with #LeeValleyLions for up to date news and live scores.