Week two action of the Australian Women’s Ice Hockey League (AWIHL) came from behind the netting as the Adelaide Rush and the Brisbane Lightning played their first games at their respective glass-less homes for the season.

The Rush hosted the Perth Inferno in a barnburner of a series that provided a lot of end-to-end action. Meanwhile, the Melbourne Ducks flew north for their first AWIHL road trip at Boondall in a highly competitive series despite Brisbane winning both games.

Fire and Speed in Adelaide

In last week’s debut article for the From Behind The Glass series, I noted that the Adelaide Rush were interested spectators in week one as the Inferno took on the Sydney Sirens and the Melbourne Ice played the Brisbane Lightning.

The Rush hit the ice in a hurry and was really fast, as was noted after the Trans Tasman series when Kirsty Venus joined the Hockey Hype Australia panel for the Weekly Wraparound.

There was a lot to like about the Rush at both ends of the ice. Emma Moonen made her debut for the Rush on Saturday while Claudia Tom made a return to AWIHL action and picked up the team’s first win for the year on Sunday.

In defence for Adelaide, Aspen Cooper was impressive in defence and attack, while Elana Holub is playing beyond her years. Cooper, Holub, and Kirsty Venus (doing Kirsty Venus things all weekend) picked themselves up goals over the weekend.

Up forward, the Rush has so many options. Over the weekend, Jordan Kulbida scored 3 goals, Nat Ayris and Kate Tihema collected two goals each, and the opening goal of Adelaide’s weekend went to Jamie Lunn.

Despite not scoring a goal, Sierra Meroniuk and Tash Farrier (three assists each) were speedy and dangerous. Kaitlyn Malthaner also had two assists over the weekend.

Adelaide is not short of offensive firepower, putting 11 goals past Inferno goalie Sasha King over the weekend in the two games. The teams split the weekend (Inferno 5-3 Saturday, Rush 8-5 Sunday) but the Rush were ON all weekend.

They took a step up on Sunday and the third period of Sunday’s game was like a laser light show with teams trading goals. If you only have the chance to watch one period of the weekend, the third period of Sunday’s game is the one to watch. It was more like the games I was expecting the previous week in Perth between Inferno and Sirens.

Looking towards the western end of the competition, Saturday’s second period won the game for the Inferno. It was the only period of the game that wasn’t locked in one goal apiece.

Sara Sammons scored twice late in period two and celebrated her hat trick late in the third period. Unusually, Elizabeth Scala was totally kept off the scoresheet on Saturday.

Assists went to Michelle Clark-Crumpton (who also scored a goal not long after Sammons’ second goal in period two), Jaymie Mackenzie (also notched an unassisted goal in period one), Charlize Novatsis, Sasha Irvine, Georgia Mclellan and Isla Malcolm.

On Sunday the hats kept flying, this time for Elizabeth Scala. Isla Malcolm and Alyssa Blatchford also scored for the Inferno. Michelle Clark-Crumpton continued her great weekend with another three assists and has six points from her two games in Adelaide and one shift against the Sirens. Sara Sammons had two assists while Lilly and Georgia Mclellan had an assist each.

Sasha King in net has been doing a mountain of work, facing 61 shots on Saturday and 49 shots on Sunday. Compare this to what made it through to the last line of defence for Adelaide (Moonen faced 25 shots on Saturday, and Claudia Tom faced 20 shots on Sunday), and you’d be forgiven for thinking that Rush had won both games over the weekend.

Sunday’s third period box score makes for interesting reading. The goals alternated between the two teams. Michelle Clark-Crumpton scored first for Inferno. 33 seconds later, Kate Tihema scored for the Rush. 19 seconds later, Alyssa Blatchford replied for the Inferno. Quite a busy minute of play!

The pattern continued for the rest of the period but was more spaced out. Goals followed by Kirsty Venus (Rush), Elizabeth Scala (Inferno), Tihema’s second goal, with the last goal scored by Scala.

Duck Season, Storm Season

Flying up to Brisbane, the Lightning were having the first of their two home games of the season. With the games against the Ducks being an exhibition series, their regular season home opening weekend is against Adelaide Rush on the weekend of 23-24 November.

While the Lightning were swept by the Melbourne Ice in Melbourne the previous weekend, Brisbane had a good weekend, with the exception of the third period on Saturday. With competition points off the table against the Ducks, the Lightning fans would have been very happy with their first live look at their team, with a 4-2 win on Saturday and a 5-2 win on Sunday.

On Saturday, Allie Fischer scored two goals alongside Alison Carlisle’s single goal. Courtney Mahoney scored a super highlight reel goal on a breakaway to complete the Lightning’s Saturday goal scoring.

On Sunday, the scoring was more shared around in the name department with goals to Lindsey Kiliwnik, Sharnita Crompton, Kelly Costa, Tracy Hocutt and Allie Fischer.

Interestingly, Lightning recorded 35 shots on goal on both days. This is a vast improvement on the shots recorded against Melbourne Ice (21 on Saturday, 22 on Sunday) but you don’t need to examine Hockey Hype Australia’s Mad Statter, Gordon Goodenough, to note the difference in the defensive efforts they were facing between the Ice and the Ducks.

What has stood out for me so far in these numbers this season is that the Lightning has been consistent in their shot production in raw numbers on Saturdays and Sundays, irrespective of the opposition or venue.

In net, Lightning gave goalies not named Imogen Perry or Katie Meyer a chance to show their wares on the national stage. Alana Pearce only faced 8 shots on Saturday while Kayla Arthur faced 20 shots on Sunday.

It is a small sample size, but it was also important to give Perry and Meyer the weekend off and get a look at some of the Lightning prospects. Even without points on the line, it was a great weekend for the Lightning after the unenviable task of playing the Ice in Melbourne for the first weekend.

The Melbourne Ducks flew north for their first AW road trip. Looking down the list of Ducks players, there are quite a few familiar names that long term AW fans will recognise.

While this season is about getting all their ducks in a row (SORRY!) on and off the ice, the talent is there for the Ducks. Jenelle and Georgia Carson, Paige Cameron, Britt Mendham, Lucy Parrington, Hope Newman (HELLO, NEWMAN!) and Bronwyn Cashin will be familiar to many.

That’s a strong core of experience that the Ducks will build on with players potentially migrating from the Ice to the Ducks, imports and younger players coming into the system building the team well into the future. With the Melbourne Ice team so hard to break into, a trip to Ice HQ and Ducks Central will be an attractive option for many players in the Victorian system and beyond.

In net, the Ducks started Jenelle Carson in net on Saturday and Jayd Davis-Tope on Sunday. Carson brings with her a lot of experience after her time with the Ice. She will be an important person in the team as an experienced mentor for Davis-Tope and the Ducks’ defensive line.

The workload for both tenders was similar, with the Lightning getting 35 shots on goal on both days. The team will no doubt be happier if they can bring down the shot totals that their goalies are facing. It was interesting to note a tactic from the Lightning, who were working on getting pucks on the net from the point, especially from Kelly Costa and Katrina Rapchuk.

The games themselves were closer than the scores indicate. There were plenty of board battles and lots of time for both teams to use their special teams. Over the weekend, there was only one power play goal scored (VickyProcyk for the Ducks on Sunday).

The Lightning scored two short-handed goals on Saturday (Courtney Mahoney & Allie Fischer). Watching the streams, you would be forgiven for thinking that it was a regular season series with competition points on the line with a long-term rivalry. There were a lot of physical penalties from both teams. Looking to the future for both teams, there’s a lot to look forward to across the season!

Jersey Watch

Let’s talk about jerseys. You knew it had to happen! The Ducks jerseys are awesome!

I’m not heavily into the Mighty Ducks franchise compared to other hockey fans as my hockey introduction and journey was very different to theirs. But I love these jerseys and logo!

There will be a lot of people in the Melbourne hockey community who will gravitate towards the Ducks rather than the Ice. It is great that there is an alternative in Melbourne now. There’s lots of little details that are plainly obvious in these photos compared to seeing them on the streams. It’s certainly on my collection list!

New ice, who dis? Week Three Preview

Let’s look forward to this weekend! While there is only one series, what a series it is! The Melbourne Ice fly to Sydney to take on the Sydney Sirens on a fresh sheet of ice at Macquarie Ice Rink.

Last week, the ice surface was renewed after a few years. A feature that will be obvious on AWIHL TV is the number of logos on the ice. There has been a conscious effort to recognise all of the hockey that is played at Macquarie, including the AWIHL and the Sydney Sirens, as a team that calls Macquarie home.

Sirens/Ice games are traditionally action-packed, and with a new ice surface in play, there should be no reason why that doesn’t continue this weekend. There will be lots of interested spectators from other teams watching from the sidelines this week.

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