Selected photos and story from the Adelaide Summer League Division 1 ice hockey game between Unicorns and Stingrays played on 17/11/2024 at the Ice Arena, Adelaide, South Australia. The intensity and skill stepped up after the Division 2 game between the same teams just prior. Unicorns would be without 3 players in captain Josh Sage, Owen McIntyre (game misconduct suspension) and Baxter Prosser (game misconduct suspension) and would call in the services of Jordan Kutsche from the Division 2 Unicorns side to bolster the defense.
Unicorns James Yeend would be called for interference at 14:14 mark of the 1st period giving the Stingrays the player advantage but the Unicorns penalty kill unit snuffed out any chance of scoring. The Stingrays found themselves with too many players on the ice at the 11:13 mark but held firm and the score remained at 0-all, until with just 4mins left in the period, Unicorns Yeend would score the first goal of the game. The assist went to Courtney Crafter. Yeend would feature again on the scoresheet, but it would be a penalty for tripping at 1:53 left in the period.
The second period started off with Unicorns dominating and Victoria Rickards would team up with Sam Stouppos to score the 2nd goal for the Unicorns to put them up by two. A high-sticking penalty to Unicorns Richard Thomas at 6:44 gave the Stingrays are chance to get back into the game. And this they did as Matthew Kemp would score at 5:02, with the assist coming from Amy Kershaw. In the dying seconds of the period, Unicorns Jordan Kutsche would take the puck behind the goal with 2 Stingrays tagging him and flick the puck into the front of the net to a waiting Stouppos who scored truly to give the Unicorns much needed momentum going into the 3rd period.
The Stingrays came out meaning business, and only took until the 17:54 mark to reduce the margin to one goal as Tom Schmitt scored the goal after assists from Hayley Whitington and Kyra Cooke. Stingrays captain Raymond Wilkinson was getting plenty of attention and lashed out earning himself a roughing penalty at 14:35. The Unicorns were unable to take advantage of the player advantage. At 9:47 Stouppos would get a tripping minor and Stingrays Kershaw seized the opportunity and scored, unassisted, to level the score at 3-all. The Unicorns needed something special to stem the Stingrays momentum, and Daniel McIntosh was able to put the Unicorns ahead at the 5:07 mark. The assists came from Stouppos and Rickards. Too much time remained to protect their slender lead. This wasn’t helped when Thomas was given his 2nd penalty for the game, for roughing with a bit over a minute remaining. But the Unicorns hung on for a surprising win given the depleted side. Shots on goal for the game were 18-17 in favour of the Stingrays.
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