NEWS

Import Announcement: Shaun Dosanjh
Elder Strikes Twice, Freeman the Hero in Home Opener for the Ages
Preview: Bears vs. Adrenaline
Adrenaline Tests Mettle Against Alumni in Fulfilling Pre-season Clash
Few Embody Adelaide Hockey More Than Zach Boyle

LADDER

Team	GP	PTS
Norths..	5	14
Lightn..	7	11
Adrena..	4	4
Brave	7	3
Rhinos	5	1

LEADERS

Josh
Adkins

Player	Points
K Elder	6
N Benson	3
J Freeman	1
J Friederich	1

GAMES

Next Game Previous Game

Regular Season Game
Saturday May. 4 at 5:00 PM

Macquarie Ice Rink, Sydney

Regular Season Game
Saturday Apr. 27

Perth Ice Arena, Perth

1-0 Loss

BOXSCORE

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JULY 31, 2023

Post-Game Recap: Adrenaline come so close against Ice

Amanda Marasigan

The Adelaide Adrenaline faced off with the Melbourne Ice for the second and final time this season on Sunday afternoon.

The earlier meeting two teams in late May did not go Adelaide’s way. However as long-time AIHL rivals there is always bound to be some heat in the match-up.

Both teams have missed the playoffs, entering the game to play for themselves and the fans.

By the end of the game, Melbourne outshot Adelaide 51-33, but it was not in the Ice’s favour for much of the game.

An import swap from the Saturday game against the Mustangs, Canadian Brett Thompson stepping in over captain Joey MacDougall.

Jeremy Friederich started in net for Adelaide and Tom Forrest, another young goaltender, started for Melbourne, looking for his first AIHL win.

Friederich held Adelaide’s momentum for the first period, only letting one goal get past him.

The first ten minutes tested the two teams’ quality of breakouts, a number of turnovers disturbing any structured plays.

At 12:30, Adelaide skated one man down as Andrew Chen went to the penalty box for a hooking penalty.

They were able to kill the whole two minutes off but as it expired, Austin McKenzie buried it into the net to open the score sheet.

A minute later, Adelaide tied the game when Brett Radford received a centring pass from Brett Thompson.

Adelaide took the momentum and made a good effort to clear the puck from their defensive zone effectively.

With five minutes left in the first period, rookie Daniel O’Handley skated down the ice to put Adelaide in the lead when he got the puck from Connor Vermeulen, who forced the turnover.

To end the period, Zach Boyle put it in top shelf to get Adelaide to lead 3-1, a dagger by the Ice’s teammate from last year.

Melbourne was desperate to catch up. They outshot Adelaide and kept Friederich busy in net.

Adelaide successfully stayed out of the penalty box the whole second period while Melbourne took on five penalties – most of which, they killed.

Early in the frame, veteran Jamie Bourke was sent to the penalty box.

This led to a powerplay goal by Daniel Chen. He picked up the puck in the neutral zone and put it in five-hole to make it a 4-1 game.

Sam Hodic would follow it up. He skated all alone down the centre and beat Friederich at 15:30.

At the 7:28 mark, Patrick Klopper exited the penalty box and scored straight away to make it a one-goal difference.

Adelaide remained disciplined. They just had to capitalise on the powerplay opportunities.

It was a tight last period as Adelaide and Melbourne chased the scoresheet.

The scores were seemingly close as they were tied up until the last six minutes of the game wherein Melbourne got the go-ahead goal.

Adelaide started the first period with a penalty kill – Friederich in net, made much-needed saves.

To extend their lead by two, Tyler Leeming slapped a loose puck into the net at 16:16.

Having struggled to extend and hold leads all season, Adelaide appeared to have gotten the insurance they needed for once.

However, Melbourne was quick to respond with back-to-back goals as Josh Walt made it a one-goal game, then veteran Jamie Bourke tying the game 5-5.

With six minutes left in the game, import Roman Kraemer slipped past two Adelaide players and put Melbourne back in the lead.

Adelaide’s effort did not go unnoticed. The pressure was high on the team, hopeful to earn themselves a win in a season of few.

Friederich found the opportunity to skate to the bench for an extra forward for Adelaide, but Bourke’s empty-net goal only made the gap farther.

It was a busy game in net for Friederich he faced 51 shots - almost half of it was in the third period alone.

The Adrenaline head home with no points but their efforts during the weekend proved that the pieces for future success are there, as they will look to tighten things up to end the season.

They face the CBR Brave in Adelaide’s IceArena next week in the last double-header weekend of the season.

Post-Game Recap: Adrenaline come so close against Ice

Post-Game Recap: Adrenaline come so close against Ice

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