Selected photos from the 1st period of the Australian Womens Ice Hockey League (AWIHL) game between the Adelaide Rush and the Perth Inferno played on 10/11/2024 at the Ice Arena Adelaide. It would be the Rush’s second game of the season on home ice. The first period started off with the Rush looking determined to remedy the last night’s defeat. Inferno’s Sara Sammons was deemed for roughing at 18:32 but there was no change in the 0-0 score. The Rush had a sloppy change at 15:21 and the referee called them for too many players with Anika Mojzisek sitting out the penalty. Despite the player disadvantage Rush’s Nat Ayris scored shorthanded to show the Rush meant business. The assists came from Sierra Meroniuk and Kirsty Venus. Rush Aspen Cooper had a tripping penalty at 10:33 followed by Inferno’s Michelle Clark-Crumpton for hooking at 9:51. With the extra player back out on the ice, Rush’s Jordan Kulbida scored unassisted at 8:44 to give the Rush an early 2-goal lead. The Inferno then also got called for too many players at 8:16 but they were able to see off the penalty with no score change. Rush’s Kaitlyn Malthaner received a high-sticking penalty at 3:52 to give the Inferno a chance to score with the extra player, and they did. Elizabeth Scale scored with assists coming from Sammons and Clark-Crumpton. Rush’s Jamie Lunn’s aggression resulted in a boarding penalty at 1:45 so her penalty kill unit would need to keep on their toes late in the period to stop the Inferno from scoring. However Rush’s Aspen Cooper managed to break the Inferno’s defences and scored shorthanded at 0:41 (assist from Meroniuk). Shots on goal were very much again in favour of the Rush 20 to 3.
Quick summary of the rest of the game (not present for the rest of the game) saw Rush’s Elana Holub and Nat Ayris post 2 more goals in the second period to give the Rush a 5-1 advantage. Shots on goals were Rush 10, Inferno 4.
The 3rd period, I hear, was a goal fest with the two teams trading goals in this order: Isla Malcolm (Inferno), Kate Tihema (Rush), Alyssa Blatchford (Inferno), Kirsty Venus (Rush), Elizabeth Scala (Inferno), Kate Tihema (Rush), Elizabeth Scala (Inferno). Shots on goal were 11 a piece.
