Corneil Helps Seahawks Tame the Tigers With Debut Hattrick
Hull Reckitt Seahawks v Telford Tigers – 21/09/24
“There are levels and there are levels,” said Hull Reckitt Seahawks coach, Matty Davies, as he described the debut performance of new forward Johnny Corneil, after the Manchester Storm loan signing scored a hattrick in the Seahawks’ 8-4 home win over the Telford Tigers.
It has been a week of change for the team, with Corneil replacing fellow Canadian, Kaden Hanas, on the Seahawks roster.
Davies described the change as ‘a tough decision, but a necessary one’ in order for the team to achieve the goals they have set themselves for this season.
Based on this performance, it would be difficult to argue with that as the Seahawks expertly swept aside their opposition from Shropshire with a victory largely down to a dominant second period, which saw the Seahawks score five unanswered goals. However, this was sandwiched by a first and third period that lacked defensive sharpness. Something Davies said the team will be working on.
The first period started in quite possibly the worst way for the Seahawks, conceding just 35 seconds into the match when Noah Kääriäinen converted a chance, assisted by Harry Ferguson, however, the Tigers’ joy was short lived because seconds later Jason Hewitt fired in the equaliser to draw the Seahawks level, assisted by Lee Haywood. One all and the game was hardly a minute old.
The match then settled into a frantic, end-to-end contest with both teams looking like scoring and conceding in equal measure.
At 4:24, Telford found the go-ahead goal for the second time with James Smith scoring an unassisted effort. But this was then followed by a moment of costly indiscipline for the Tigers, giving away two penalties in quick succession, with Scott McKenzie sitting two minutes for tripping shortly joined by Ferguson who got two minutes for delaying the game.
Shorthanded, Telford faced the full onslaught of the Seahawks offence and Emil Svec made the opposition pay when he netted the equaliser, on the powerplay, assisted by Hewitt, to end the first period 2-2.
Buoyed by drawing level before the break, the Seahawks pressed the advantage in the second period and recaptured the sort of dominant style that had dispatched the Bristol Pitbulls a week earlier.
At 25:14, Bobby Chamberlain scored the Seahawks third, assisted by Dave Phillips, and barley a minute later, at 26:02, a fourth was added by Johnny Corneil, assisted by Hewitt and Lee Bonner.
The Tigers were reeling and four soon became five, on 27:05, when Chamberlain netted, assisted by Svec, forcing Telford coach, Tom Watkins, to call a timeout to try and restore order to his team after a three-minute blowout.
What Watkins said to his team clearly didn’t have the desired impact, because, as soon as the game restarted, Rhodes Mitchell-King was given a two-minute penalty for tripping and the Seahawks capitalised on the resulting powerplay, with Johnny Corneil scoring his second of the night, assisted by Svec.
Corneil’s composure with the puck and the chances he was creating demonstrated why signing him had been too good an opportunity for the Seahawks to pass on, perhaps best highlighted by his hattrick goal, on 36:16, when he converted an assist from Owen Bruton from the blue line.
After dominating most of the second period a moment of complacency from the Seahawks saw Ferguson pull one back for the visitors, on 36:35, to end the second period, 7-3.
If the first period was characterised by poor defensive play from both teams, then the third was a lack of discipline, with multiple penalties being called on the Seahawks and the Tigers, resulting in a disjointed 20 minutes to end the game.
Despite this, Bruton managed to net Hull’s eighth of the contest with just two minutes remaining in the match, assisted by Declan Jones.
However, the scoring wasn’t over yet and, much like their flying start to the first period, the Tigers found a goal, only this time with seconds left in the game, rather than seconds into it, with Smith scoring his second of night at 59:22.
The match ended 8-4 to the Seahawks, adding two more points to the team’s early season total and securing their berth at the top of the standings.
“We didn’t start or end the game great, but we were very good in the second period,” said Davies.
“We gave them goals that we shouldn’t, and we will be looking to iron that part of our game out. However, when our offense gets going, we are very difficult to contain and our powerplay was exceptional tonight. Johnny (Corneil) was a big part of that.”
Speaking more about the Seahawks debut star, Davies believes the best is yet to come.
“In this league there is a certain level of player, and he is above that. He is next level and that matters in games like tonight, where he helped us on the powerplay.
“I think he is only going to get better.”
Solway Sharks v Hull Reckitt Seahawks – 22/09/24
On Sunday, the Seahawks made the long drive north to Solway to face the Sharks.
Five minutes into the first period, the hosts found the opening goal though John Dunbar before Bobby Chamberlain tipped in the equaliser for the Seahawks, on the powerplay, on 12:42, assisted by Jason Hewitt and Emil Svec.
With seconds left of the first period, the Seahawks turned the game around, with Lee Bonner converting a chance, assisted by Kohen Taylor and Johnny Corneil.
A scrappy second period saw the Sharks draw level through Nolan Gardiner and Callum McGill was ejected from the game for a hit from behind at the boards.
As the third period neared its conclusion, Hewitt restored the Seahawks advantage, assisted by Corneil and Lee Haywood, only for the Sharks to tie the game again late on, through Gardiner, 3-3.
Overtime was unable to separate the sides and the game went to penalty shots.
Dmitri Zimozdra denied the Sharks on six occasions in the shoot-out before Owen Sobchak converted the all-important, sudden-death winner to ensure the Seahawks returned from Scotland with the points and back-to-back four-point weekends to start the season.
By Mark Bateman
