Haringey Huskies 10-3 Lee Valley Lions (01/02/2019 – NIHL South 2 Cup)
The Lee Valley Lions continued their NIHL South 2 Cup campaign last Saturday as they made the short trip to Alexandra Palace to face the Haringey Huskies.
The Huskies are currently leading NIHL South East 2 (Wilkinson), and showed their quality as they ultimately came away with a 10-3 victory over the visiting Lions.
First Period: The Lions, who were missing several of their top scorers including Jordan Ho, Jordan Sullivan and Ross Sin-Hidge, struggled early on as they conceded three goals in the opening ten minutes through Lee Mercer, Stuart Appleby and James Pentecost. The first two goals were powerplay markers, while Pentecost scored shorthanded.
The visitors did get a goal back in the 12th minute as Vinny Ferrara (11:43, assisted Ben Margerison and Robert Cole) cut the deficit to 3-1 with his fifth goal of the season.
But it was all downhill from there for the Lions, as they conceded three more goals in the opening period through Nick Alley, Tom Avery and Appleby, going into the first intermission 6-1 down.
Second Period: The Lions swapped netminders in the first break, with Naomi Healey coming into net in place of James Andrew, but Healey was unable to stop the Huskies taking a 7-1 lead in the 24th minute through Pentecost.
The visitors scored their second goal of the game to cut the deficit to 7-2 in the 28th minute though as Robert Cole (27:37, assisted Joe Berry) grabbed his ninth of the campaign.
There was to be only one more goal in the middle period, with Nick Alley’s shorthander giving the Huskies an 8-2 lead going into the final period.
Third Period: The Huskies came out very quickly at the start of the final period and took a 9-2 lead through Joseph Willingham after just 13 seconds, and reached double figures in the 46th minute as Mercer got his second of the game.
There was drama in the 54th and 55th minutes as first Luke Martin-Digby (Haringey) and Harry Sage (Lee Valley), and then Nick Alley (Haringey) and Harry O’Brien (Lee Valley) were all penalised for two separate fights.
There would be only one more goal in the game and it went the way of the Lions, Tyrone Wells (59:49, assisted Joe Miller) making it 10-3 with just 11 seconds left in what was a tough game for the Lions on the road.
The East London side will look to bounce back this coming Sunday 9th February, as they face the same opponents for the second game in a row. This time it will be a league game, with the Lions playing at home.
Faceoff at Lee Valley Ice Centre will be at 17:30.