The lineup for tonight’s game against the Romford Raiders had some changes to it since the Dogs’ latest win over the Berkshire Bees. Firstly, Finlay Ulrick was playing with the Sheffield Steelers, and Ivan Bjorkly Nordstrom was still injured. Ben Norton started this game against the Raiders. Unfortunately, after a tough battle the Steeldogs were unable to level the game in the third period and force an overtime resulting in a 3-4 loss for the Sheffield Steeldogs.
Period 1
The Sheffield Steeldogs came out onto the ice looking dominant, Morgan Clarke- Pizzo led the charge with an excellent early attempt on net however it was saved and covered up by Ethan James. Soon after disaster struck for the Sheffield Steeldogs, when a counterattack by the Romford Raiders led to their first goal by Jacob Ranson, timed at just under 2 minutes into period 1. This gave the Raiders a bust of energy and confidence to push past the Dogs’ defence and get attempts on Ben Norton. Ultimately this pressure led to a second counterattack led by Andrew Shewfelt who played a gorgeous pass across the ice for Brandon Ayliffe to score the goal for the Raiders putting them 2 goals up! The Dogs however were not giving up and were putting chances on the net, yet nothing came of this. To see out the period the Raiders were back in the Dogs’ defensive zone and a final goal was scored by Tyler Nixon for the Romford Raiders. (0-3)
Period 2
The Bradfield Brewery Sheffield Steeldogs started period 2 again with high intensity and lots of shots on goal. Walker Sommer and Nathan Ripley were 2 of the Steeldogs players who had attempts on Ethan James however nothing came of it. The Steeldogs were putting more and more pressure on the Raiders in hopes of a goal and that goal did eventually come after a shot by Sam Tremblay was deflected into the back of the net by Morgan Clarke- Pizzo! Ben Norton and his defence played phenomenally this period denying all chances by the Romford Raiders, the period ended with more shots in and around the net however the Dogs were not converting their shots into goals. (1-3)
Period 3
Once more this period was largely dominated by the Sheffield Steeldogs in terms of possession, however again the Dogs could not convert their chances. The Raiders were pinned in by the Steeldogs, but Andrew Shewfelt broke through the Steeldogs’ defensive line and managed to get a shot away. Norton made a huge save to keep his team in it! Soon after Jonathon Phillips received an amazing pass from Elemeri Hallfors and put the puck into the net. This success was short lived as the Raiders then scored another goal to put them 2 goals ahead of the Dogs, scored by Nathan Wilson. Ethan James put a phenomenal shift in this period stopping the likes of Sam Tremblay, Jonathon Kirk and Sam Cooper from scoring. However he was proven not to be invincible as Jonathon Phillips again managed to get the puck into the back of the net assisted by Walker Sommer (powerplay goal). The end of the period was unfortunate for the Dogs as they fell short of bringing the score back level, final score 3-4.
MOTM
Sheffield Steeldogs- Jonathon Phillips
Romford Raiders- Jake Sylvester