It was a weekend of mixed fortunes for the Hercules Ice Hockey Apparel sponsored Solway Sharks as they shared the points in a double header versus the Sheffield Steeldogs.
Their weekend started on the road, as the Dumfries side travelled to Sheffield to take on the Steeldogs, and it was the travelling Sharks that took the lead through a Craig Peacock goal in the first period, and despite chances at both ends the Sharks took the lead into the first period break. The second period saw the Sharks find themselves in and out the penalty box but were able to fend off the Steeldogs attack until the mid way point of the period when Cam Brownley found a way past Warburton in the Sharks net, although the Steeldogs rang the post a few times, the period ended with the score tied 1-1. The Sharks started the third period the brighter and even though shorthanded, Kell Beattie skated the length of the ice to convert, before John Dunbar pulled a nice move in front of goal to convert high and put the sharks up 3-1, the Sharks worked hard to limit the Steeldogs chances and close out the road victory.
The following night was the return fixture of the day previous, with the Sharks dawning their special edition Pride jerseys in a fortnight of action in association with England Ice Hockey to celebrate the inclusivity of ice hockey and reiterating the message that hockey is for everyone. And just like the jerseys they wore, it was the Sharks that started the brighter and thought they had opened the scoring through Craig Peacock, but the officials adjudged the goal was off its moorings and washed the goal out.
It was the visitors that opened the scoring at 17.02 with a powerplay goal through Matt Bissonnette to give his side the 1-0 advantage at the end of the first period.
The second period brought end to end action but it was the Sharks that found the equaliser as Caly Robertson crashed the front of the net and was able to force the puck through Zimodzra at 32.05. In the closing stages of the period the Steeldogs restored their lead with a shorthanded goal from Jonathan Phillips before Jason Hewitt added another and put the Steeldogs up 3-1. As the Sharks piled on the pressure in the final period Mason Alderson found a way through to put the Sharks within one goal, but with time ticking against the Sharks, they opted to take the chance to pull their Netminder, for the extra skater but despite sustained pressure in the Steeldogs defensive zone, it was the away side that were able to clear the puck out the zone and James Spurr added a Steeldogs fourth with 12 seconds remaining and secured the 4-2 win for the away side.
Canadian defenceman Olivier Arseneau had this to say regarding the weekend results,
“We split games against Sheffield after winning 6 in a row. Yes losing at home is a hard one
to accept but we have to put it behind us and focus on next Saturday. We can’t dwell on theweekend when there’s a bigger picture to take care of”
The Solway Sharks are on the road for the next five matches and won’t return back to the
Shark Tank until February 17th and 18th when they face the Milton Keynes Lightning in a
double header. Puck drop on the 17th is at 7:00 pm and the 18th is at 3:00 pm. Get your
tickets either online at https://sharksihc.com/tickets/, or in person at the Ice Bowl
