17/07/2022 Pacific Hockey League – Adelaide Avalanche v The Coast 4-8

Selected photos from the Pacific Hockey League ice hockey game between the Adelaide Avalanche and The Coast (Central Coast) played on 17/07/2022 at the Ice Arena, Adelaide, South Australia.  The Saturday game saw the Avalanche dominate on their home ice to the tune of 5-1.  The Coast would have to bring their A game for the Sunday game.  The Avalanche had already lost Jeremy Friederich and Matus Trnka in goals (with Matus re-agravating an injury barely into the Saturday game).  The services of Curtis Villani were called and managed to face 26 shots and save 25 of those on the Saturday and the Avalanche would need that kind of success again, especially with The Coast now desperate for a win so close to the finals.

The Coast in fact came to play!  Coast’s Mike Tish headed to the bench for 2mins for holding at 14:31, followed by Joann Levesque from the Avalanche for cross-checking at 13:53.  As the Coast’s penalty their star player Kale Costa would capitalise with the power play, opening the scoring at 12:46 after assists from Emiel Goris and Jonatan Ruth.  The Coast would stun the Avalanche home crowd at 11:47 to take a 2-0 lead when Tish scored from a Kale Costa assist.  The Avalanche would reduce the gap to one at 11:30 when Levesque scored with some fine work from Jake Riley and the other Jake, Jake Hazel.  Then Avalanche’s Jamie Woodman was deemed for hooking at 11:08 which didn’t help the Avalanche’s cause in evening the scoring.  The Coast could capitalise, and shortly after at 8:54 David Harmati headed for a 2min penalty for roughing.  This seemed to spur the Avalanche on Tom Sak feeding the puck to Finnish import Aleksi Alakoski, who sprinting down the small rink side, stopped and propped and spied Darren Corstens on the far side, wide open, and Corstens slotted it home catching out Coast’s goaltender Thomas Munro.  Score at the end of the period was 2-all.  Shots on goal for the period saw Avalanche’s Villani face 10 shots to Coast’s Munro facing 13 shots.

The second period was only 30 seconds old before Avalanche’s Jake Riley received a penalty for slashing.  The Coast made use of the man advantage with Goris scoring 18:19 after assists from Tish and Stuart Cole-Clark.  Coast’s Harmati would once again hear the referees whistle at 17:31 as he headed to the bench, again for hooking.  The Coast’s defence stood firm and the Avalanche were unable to score with the extra player.  At 14:16 Avalanche’s Josh Bortignon shoved his opponent into the boards and received a boarding minor for his troubles.  Jake Riley had been prominent in the Saturday’s game, and now he stepped up to the plate and cut the deficit by one, scoring his first for the game at 12:38.  The assists came from Corstens and Levesque.  The joy however was short-lived, as Coast’s Braden Costa restored the 2-goal lead at 11:59.  The Coast just weren’t buying into any Avalanche comebacks!  Again, the Avalanche had to defend hard with Zach Steele having a 2-minute minor for cross-checking at 10:58, but this was negated when Coast’s Ruth was caught by the referees for slashing at 10:28.  The Avalanche would need to go into penalty kill mode again at 5:15 when Corstens was deemed for tripping.  At 4:59, with the one less player, the Avalanche’s Jake Riley somehow found himself on a breakaway but was felled by his Coast opponent and was given a penalty shot.  He didn’t miss and the Avalanche clawed their way back again.  Again the Coast restored the 2-goal buffer when Kale Costa scored his second goal for the game at 3:25.  The assists came from Goris and Tish.  Shots on goal for the period were, Villani facing 6 shots in a tight period, against Munro facing 8.

The Coast were pretty serious about winning this one.  With neither team finding a way to score, it took until the 13:57 mark before the first was scored for the period, going to Coast’s Cameron Hughes, with assists from Harmati and Alistair Rye.  Two penalties to Coast’s Goris (at 10:05 for slashing) and Tish (at 6:24 for high sticking) gave the Avalanche a chance but they were unable to get past the defences of The Coast.  Coast’s Kale Costa would add more hurt with 4mins remaining, scoring short-handed.  Avalanche’s Alakoski would head to the bench shortly after for tripping.  Shots on goal for the game saw Avalanche’s Curtis Villani face 27 shots, to Coast’s Thomas Munro facing 25 shots, after The Coast dominated in the last period.