Selected photos from the AJIHL Game 2 (of their 3 game weekend) between the Adelaide Generals and the Sydney Sabres played at the Ice Arena on Sunday morning 09/02/2020. After receiving a 0-3 defeat the night before the Sabres were looking for amends. However it was the Generals that would find the early advantage at 11:01 on the clock when Cameron Pope would open their account after assists from Connor Smith and Brad Chenoweth. The aggression between the two teams was evident when the referees called Generals Nicholas Bowe and Sabres Taegan Rippon and Dylan Sables for roughing. With the 4-on-4 the Generals managed to find some open space and Ben Handberg posted their second goal at 5:46 remaining with assists from Pope and Bowe. With just under 2mins remaining the Generals would post their 3rd goal for the game to take a handy 3 goal lead into the first break. The goalscorer was Ambrose Foster with an assist from Joseph Maatouk. Despite a slashing penalty to Pope, the Sabres were unable to capitalise on the one man advantage. Shots on goal for the period: Sabres 7, Generals 12.
The second period started with plenty of aggression again, this with Generals Smith being called for roughing, but only after goalie interference from Sabres Thomas Moncrieff. The Sabres must have had the Generals rattled as they used this break in play to regroup and Mika Laajunien was able to find a way past Generals netminder Matus Trnka with an assist coming from Connor Schultz. At 12:57 remaining, Generals Tyler Boyle headed for the sin bin with a crosschecking penalty. However the Sabres powerplay was short-lived as No.23 was called for high-sticking. The Sabres continued to apply pressure and were rewarded when Thomas Moncrieff scored from James Urweiss with 9:34 remaining. The Generals would fall foul of the penalty box, with Handberg for tripping and goaltender Trnka for roughing not helping their cause with the Sabres surging play. The score however would remain at 3-2 in favour of the Generals at the break. Shots on goal for the period: Sabres 10, Generals 9.
The last period would be an interesting one to see if the Generals could muster a counter attack and find the first period dominance again, or whether the Sabres would continue steamrolling their way to a win. The Sabres did in fact, levelling the score 30secs into the period to tie at 3-all. The goalscorer was Dmitri Kuleschov with assist from Noah Moncrieff and Thomas Moncrieff. The last period deteriorated with a swag of penalties handed out as discipline went out the wind. The Generals damage read as follows: Maatouk for roughing and misconduct, Chenoweth for tripping, captain Kyle Clark for roughing. The Sabres saw Thomas Moncrieff for slashing, Sables for slashing, Noah Moncrieff for cross-checking and there was a missed spearing attack on Generals goaltender Trnka that didn’t go unnoticed by coach Corey Smith. When things had calmed down, as best as they could, it was the Generals that would lead the charge when Morris O’Handley found a way past Sabres goalies Takiari at 3:37 with the assist going to Timothy Benson. However Sabres were done yet and with momentum Schultz posted their 4th goal with 2:43 remaining in the period after an assist from Laajunien and they now held a 4-3 lead. Nine seconds later the Sabres would go one further ahead to break the Generals back when Thomas Moncrieff scored from Kuleschov. A late penalty to Rippon with 42secs remaining gave the Generals a sliver of a chance to level the score and head to overtime, especially with Trnka heading back to the bench for the extra attacker. The Sabres forwards could not find a way past the desperate Generals defence, but the Generals could not breach the Sabres defences to score. The remaining seconds deteriorated into a melee and saw Generals Pope, Chenoweth and Zachary Steele head to the box for misconduct with one second remaining in the game. One the other side Thomas Moncrieff would be the only Sabres player to receive a misconduct penalty. Final score Sabres 5, Generals 4. Shots on goal for the game: Sabres 34, Generals 29.
