A busy spell of games for Solway Sharks Junior Ice Hockey Club continued with a trip to Aberdeen for the Under 14 and Under 16 teams.
The U14s, after and long journey and a brutally early start, were first up against Aberdeen, and their “bus legs” led to a sluggish start for the young sharks. Caught napping, they allowed Aberdeen to get a goal within the first minute, and still struggling to step up the pace, another just before 10 minutes. Finding themselves 2 goals down Solway rallied, and a period of better defensive play saw them keep Aberdeen at bay for the rest of the period.
A rousing team talk from coach Martyn Mitchell saw an enthused Solway take to the ice for the second period, and after just a minute pulled one back, Harris Henderson feeding Scott Rae who sent the puck into the net. This inspired the rest of the team, who started to play more cohesive hockey, and were rewarded 6 minutes later when Henderson scored himself, assisted by Rae and newbie Megan Gourlay, making her mark with her first point. Seconds later young Lewis Gibson got on the end of Donald McCuaig pass and scored Solway’s third, putting them ahead. Another 30 seconds saw a Liam Stenton solo effort find the back of the net, and a much more dominant Solway finished the second period 4 goals to 2 ahead.
Another Stenton goal, this time assisted by Matthew Watters, in the third period concluded the scoring, and with Joshua Leuvennink in net more than able to thwart any further attempts on goal by Aberdeen the game finished 5-2 to Solway. Jack Little was justly named man of the match. Coach Mitchell commented, “After a slow start we found ourselves 2 nil down. This wasn’t the plan, so a stern talk and a re-jig of lines saw us turn the game around. We had all the puck for the second and third periods, so 5-2 wasn’t a real reflection on our game, and showed how good the Aberdeen netminder was.”
The U16s were up next, and they too were a goal down within minutes, Solway netminder Rebekah Scott uncharacteristically fumbling a catch to let the puck slide past her. Lewis Chalmers, from captain Kieran Hair, restored Solway pride 6 seconds later, and started a rout, with a very dominant Sharks team steamrollering over Aberdeen. Two Aidan Nicol goals were next, his first assisted by Chalmers and Hair, followed by a solo shot, before Lewis Houston assisted by Chalmers and Liam Stenton finished the period putting Solway 4-1 ahead.
The second period saw total domination by Solway, Ruairi Lockerbie finding his stride with 3 goals, Lewis Houston getting 2, Hair, Nicol and Chalmers adding another one each, and assists going to all of these players and Andrew Robb. The period ended with the Sharks 12 goals to 1 ahead. Rebekah Scott, who had a very quiet time in the Solway goal, made way at the end of the period to allow Joshua Leuvennink to take up position between the pipes.
The control remained firmly with Solway in the final period, Lockerbie quickly adding another goal assisted by Houston. Aberdeen managed to squeeze one past Leuvennink totally against the run of play, but Hair soon pulled another back, assisted by Nicol and newbie Megan Gourlay, making her 16s debut. Lockerbie completed the scoring with his fifth, Solway finishing convincing 15-2 victors. Coach Mitchell said afterwards, “The team again got off to a slow start, with a freak goal against us, one that I’m sure not even Bex can explain how it went in. That woke the guys up, and I don’t think they really looked back after that. We totally dominated, and Aberdeen could do little to stop the goals mounting up.” Joshua Leuvennink was rewarded for his efforts with man of the match.
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