Ice hockey Elson savours ‘special’ night as Pitbulls book play-off spot
BRISTOL Pitbulls booked their place at the play-off finals weekend in Milton Keynes after sneaking past the Invicta Dynamos 11-10 on aggregate after 120 minutes of tense hockey.
The Pitbulls travelled east on Saturday to Kent, looking to win at Planet Ice Gillingham for the third time this season.
Mason Lipsey tipped in a shot from the point and Josh Shaw scored at the back door on the powerplay between goals from Invicta imports Juraj Huska and Tomas Banovsky to see the teams level at 2-2 after the opening period.
Jay Warren scored the Pitbulls’ second powerplay goal in the third before Huska scored his second of the night, meaning the teams were still tied after 40 minutes.
The Pitbulls finally pulled away in the third, starting with a goal from Liam Coleman in the first minute of the period. Steve Osman added the fifth in the low slot before Sam Smith scored the sixth, a third powerplay goal of the evening. Ash Jackson scored a late goal to bring the tie back to 6-4, a healthy lead for the Pitbulls after a good road performance.
However, the short-benched Dynamos were reading from a different script on Sunday night in Bristol, and after the opening 20 minutes, they were 7-6 ahead on aggregate. Two goals from Juraj Huska, either side of a goal from Ash Jackson, turned the tie on its head.
The Pitbulls didn’t panic and had levelled the tie by the end of a topsy-turvy second period. Bailey Hind-Pitcher profited from great work behind the net by Loris Taylor to make it 3-1 but Banovsky
restored Invicta’s lead with just under half the game to go. The home side then found themselves on the fortunate side of a poor call from the officials, a Smith shot was deflected on to the netting and therefore the play should’ve been blown dead, but it was unseen by the officials and Steve Osman skated into the slot and sniped past Clements to make it 4-2 on the night. Jackson added his second of the night on the powerplay before Smith scored for his fifth straight game against the Dynamos, meaning that after two, the tie was finely poised at 9-9.
Huska opened the scoring in the
third, beating John Dibble with a blast from just outside the face-off circle. After struggling on the powerplay for much of the year, when it was needed most, it stood up to the test. First, on a scrappy powerplay, Warren picked the puck up behind the net before finding top-scorer Lipsey at the back door, he made no mistake and levelled the tie at 10 each. Osman was the man who finally put the Pitbulls back ahead, he was found in the slot and Osman doesn’t miss from there. The Pitbulls had to kill a late penalty but did so effectively and sent the home crowd wild when the final buzzer sounded.
Jamie Elson, head coach, was overjoyed to make the final four, especially in the face of tough opposition. He said: “This weekend was a real battle. We weren’t at our best for spells, and I think you have to give Invicta credit for how hard they played over six periods with such a small bench. They really took the game to us, and ultimately, I think our depth and togetherness of this group got us over the line.
“The never-say die-attitude we have is special and we again showed that. It’s been a huge season but that was a special feeling in front of our amazing fans. It will be remembered for a long time.”