Selected photos from the Australian Ice Hockey League (AIHL) game between the Adelaide Adrenaline and the Melbourne Ice played on 27/05/2023 at the Ice Arena, Adelaide, South Australia. The two teams were both sitting down the lower end of the table and desperate for some much needed points. Adelaide went in with a disadvantage having lost one of their imports Darcy Walsh who was heading back home. The team sheet showed no less than 4 sets of brothers on the team, Daniel and Andrew Chen, Jeremy and Julian Friederich, Zach and Tyler Boyle (late withdrawal) and Daniel and Morris O’Handley. Early penalties to the Adrenaline put them on the back foot from the outset having to face a 3-on-5 play, but they weathered the storm. Nathaniel Benson (2mins for slashing at 15:47, and Morris O’Handley for slashing at 14:53. The Ice would open the scoring at 11:46 with Chris Schutz scoring, with the assists coming from Roman Kraemer and Jack Carpenter. The Adrenaline faced penalty trouble again at 8:14, when Daniel Chen was deemed to trip his Ice opponent. The Ice would add their 2nd goal at 5:29 with Austin McKenzie being the scorer, Assists came from Carpenter and Austin Lefkowicz (the goaltender!). Adrenaline’s import Andrew Hamilton would strike back shortly after at 4:25 remaining, with the assists coming from Tyler Leeming and Noah Maley. The Ice would go back out to a 2 goal margin with 3:34 on the clock as Mackenzie Caruana scored from Kraemer and Schutz. The Adrenaline had a chance to reduce the margin when Ice’s Jamie Bourke headed to the bench at 1:42 for interference. Shots on goal for the period saw Adrenaline’s Jeremy Friederich face 18 shots and Ice’s Austin Lefkowicz face 12.
The 2nd period was all one way traffic for the Ice as the Adrenaline’s defence wasn’t able to the barrage of shots. The Ice would score 6 unanswered goals as the wheels fell off the Adrenaline’s game. What made it worse 2 of the goals were scored shorthanded. The goalscorers were: Caruana, Josh Walt, Bourke, Schutz twice, Walt (2nd goal). Jacob laver, Kahu Joyce, Jake Riley, Hector Vrielynck, Artem Klein and Nathan Cachia got amongst the assists. Three penalties went to the Adrenaline did not help their cause as Jordan Freeman (tripping at 16:47), Matus Trnka (replacing goaltender Friederich, slashing at 7:56) and Steve Best (hooking at 3:07). Ex-Adrenaline player Jake Riley went to the penalty box for 2mins for roughing much to his surprise. Ice’s Bourke fell foul of the referees for the 2nd time, this time for hooking at 5:54. The score at the end of the period was an ugly 9-1 if you were on the home team’s side. Shots on goal for the period saw Friederich face 9 shots and 4 goals before being replaced by Matus Trnka who faced 4 shots for 2 goals. Lefkowicz faced 9 shots.
The 3rd period opened a little brighter for the Adrenaline when Nathanial Benson scored their 2nd goal at 17:39 with assists coming from captain Joey MacDougall and Julian Friederich. However 5mins later the Ice would score again, with Caruana scoring his 2nd goal for the game. Assists came from Bourke and Schutz. A bit over a minute later Adrenaline’s Andrew Chen would score and give Julian Friederich and Maley their second points of the game with assists. Later in the period Ice’s Josh Walt would score the last goal of the game after assists from Carpenter and Bourke. A game the Adrenaline would like to forget. They will hopefully acquire another import to match the other teams. Shots on goal for the game saw Adrenaline’s Friederich/Trnka combination face 45 shots compared to Ice’s Lefkowicz facing 34 shots.
