NIHL North

NIHL Weekend Round-up

In what was their only league game this weekend, Billingham Stars achieved a 13-1 win over Nottingham Lions to narrow the gap between themselves and Sutton Sting.

Photo Credit: IceHockeyMedia - Colin Lawson

Firing his team into the lead with just 1:24 played, Captain Michael Elder beat netminder Alan Levers following build up play from defenceman Matthew Campbell and forward James Moss to immediately place Nottingham on the back foot. As the Stars persisted in their offensive efforts, Alternate Captain Chris Sykes attempted a wraparound and found Canadian forward Kevin Boyd on hand to place the puck top shelf on 8:02. Fifty eight seconds later, Boyd notched his second of the contest, though Levers saved his initial shot. With the Stars continuing to pile on the pressure, forward Cain Taylor then added to the Lions’ deficit on 11:53, converting a lightning shot from defenceman Darren Stattersfield to make it 4-0, a score line Billingham maintained ahead of the second period.

Photo Credit: IceHockeyMedia - Colin Lawson

Despite the fact that Sykes was sinbinned at the very start of the middle stanza, the shorthanded Stars returned to the ice with the objective to continue their domination. Killing this penalty with success, Billingham added a fifth to their tally when Campbell bagged his first league goal of the season on 25:38 to trouble the home team further. It was not long after this that both sides clashed when a heavy hit from defenceman Callum Medcalf caused tempers to flare, resulting in the Lion receiving 2+10 for a check to the head in addition to a minor roughing penalty whilst Sykes was also sidelined for his part in the incident. With just under seven minutes remaining in this period, defenceman Joseph Gretton reacted to pressure placed on Levers’ net by dropping the gloves with Stattersfield to see both earn 2+2 for fighting. In spite of this, Billingham continued to be relentless in front of goal and filed from the ice on a positive note when Sykes buried blue liner Tom Keeley’s shot on 38:52 to make it 6-0.

Photo Credit: IceHockeyMedia - Colin Lawson

Picking up from where they left off going into the final period, Billingham’s forward Alex Preston scrambled on the loose puck and lifted it into the Lions’ net with close to two minutes played, assisted by Sykes and Boyd. Struggling to compete, Nottingham eventually found the goal that they were searching for on the power play as ‘D’ man Ruslan Cernych surpassed the Stars’ defence to play the puck in to seventeen-year-old forward Jack Crowston who beat Watson to make it 7-1. It was only past the halfway point of the period that the Teessiders added to the score line again as Campbell achieved his second of the evening on 52:14. This was soon followed by Taylor’s second goal as the Lions failed to maintain possession after a faceoff in their defensive zone, presenting the Star with the opportunity to hit the target. Less than two minutes later, Moss saw his shot trickle into Nottingham’s net following Levers’ attempts to stop the puck; young forward Ethan Hehir having worked hard to supply a pass to his teammate. The Lions then switched Levers with young netminder Luca Sheldon to allow their backup some ice time but, just twenty seven seconds after his introduction, Sheldon was beaten by Campbell who accomplished his hat trick. Shortly afterwards, Stattersfield printed his name onto the scoresheet when his deflected shot made its way past Sheldon to take the Stars’ tally up to twelve. Despite the Lions’ best efforts however, Billingham only completed their scoring on 58:28 when Preston bagged himself a second, with Sheldon’s pad save not enough to prevent the forward from securing a thirteenth goal for his team.

Achieving a 13-1 win over Nottingham, the Stars remain in ninth place but now find themselves just one point behind Sutton Sting going into next weekend’s league fixture against Solihull Barons. 

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