Sharks Attack Too Much for Seahawks to Handle
Hull Reckitt Seahawks v Solway Sharks – 17/11/2024
The Hull Reckitt Seahawks recorded a second home defeat of the season on Sunday, narrowly losing to the Solway Sharks, 6-5, which means back-to-back losses at Hull Ice Arena following last weekend’s 9-5 reverse to the Milton Keynes Lightning.
The Seahawks’ recent slump has seen them win just one of their last six games and exit the NIHL Cup.
With the standards across the league increasing this year, the team’s recent form has raised concern and drawn strong words from Head Coach, Matty Davies, who has indicated that changes could be on the horizon as the team looks to get back to winning ways.
While the scoreline in this match was closer than the previous week, the way the game panned out took a familiar and maddening pattern.
The Seahawks always felt like they were playing catch-up while giving themselves too much to do in pursuit of the points.
The first period saw the Sharks take the lead on 03:09 through Mason Alderson, after he was played in by Torran Anderson and Lewis Young after the puck squirmed past Jamie Chilcott along the boards.
However, just over three minutes later, the game was all square after Calum McGill hit a shot through traffic from the blue line that was tipped in by Canadian forward Owen Sobchak, 1-1.
The second period saw the Sharks retake the lead on 27:31 through the league’s top goalscorer, Nolan Gardiner, who rifled a shot into the top corner and past Dmitri Zimozdra from close range.
The Sharks then extended their lead on the powerplay as Alderson scored his second of the night while Bobby Chamberlain sat a two-minute penalty for checking to the head.
The Seahawks did rally, with Emil Svec scoring two goals in four minutes to tie the game up. His first, on 33.08, came thanks to a pinpoint pass from Sobchak, and then, on 37:08, when the Czech forward finished an opportunity with a thunderous shot after Johnny Corneil picked the pocket of the Sharks defence in centre ice and laid the puck off.
Having fought back, the Seahawks were keen to get into the locker room all square, but, as the second period entered its final minute, Lee Bonner was called for hooking and the Sharks restored their lead on the powerplay with 28 seconds remaining in the period through Liam Stenton, 4-3.
The final period saw another equalising goal from the Seahawks, on 44:38, with Sobchak netting his second of the night, assisted by Svec and Corneil, but the game frustratingly slipped away again when Stenton put the Sharks back in front on 53:18.
As the game neared its conclusion, the Seahawks called a time out at 58:05 and opted to pull the goalie for the extra skater.
However, as the game restarted, the puck worked itself free, and the Sharks charged toward the Hull goal with Olivier Arseneau passing to John Dunbar who centred it to Caly Robertson to finish from close range into the empty net.
With Zimozdra restored to the Hull goal, it felt like the game would end 6-4, but, with 13 seconds remaining in the match, recently called-up GB under 20, Owen Bruton, brought it back to within a single goal but it was all too little, too late.
“It has been another tough night. I wish it could have been different,” said Davies in his post-match interview.
“We had a good week in terms of our preparation for this game, but Solway did a good job on us. They defended well and they were very good on the penalty kill. Marrsy (Jordan Marr) played brilliantly and made some big saves.
“We just didn’t get the job done tonight. We had plenty of chances, but it just hasn’t been good enough yet again.
“We’ve been good on the penalty kill all year, but that is the second game running where we haven’t been good enough in closing teams down.
“[Lee] Haywood’s injury means we are short on defence and losing a player of his experience hurts, but I need others to step up.”
The Seahawks face the Swindon Wildcats in the league on Sunday (24 November), their sole fixture of the weekend.
“We have a big week ahead of us and we need to rebound,” said Davies.
“We need to bring our energy back. I thought we showed it at times tonight, but we need to do it more consistently across the full 60 minutes and I’ll be looking for the team to do that against Swindon.”
By Mark Bateman
