Recapping Week 23 Of The NIHL
Saturday 15th February 2025:
The first game of the weekend saw the Romford Raiders take a one goal lead in leg one of the Cup Final against the Leeds Knights. Romford scored two goals in the last five minutes to win the first leg 5-4.
Back to league action where the Swindon Wildcats secured a 4-3 overtime victory against the MK Lightning. Tomasz Malasinski scoring the game winning goal after the Wildcats came from behind twice.
The Peterborough Phantoms got a huge road win against the Bristol Pitbulls defeating them 9-2. Cam Hough scoring a hat-trick in the night taking his goal tally to 44 on the season.
Despite loosing Sam Tremblay to the Sheffield Steelers, the Sheffield Steeldogs got a big victory on home ice beating the Berkshire Bees 5-3 with Walker Sommer scoring another two goals. Elmeri Halfors also getting a brace.
The Solway Sharks were back at home for the first time in three weeks and were involved in a thriller with the Hull Seahawks. With the game tied at 5-5, Jason Hewitt scored a last minute goal to steal maximum points in Dumfries.
Sunday 16th February 2025:
The second leg of the Cup Final saw the Leeds Knights lift the NIHL trophy with a 4-1 victory on the night and a 8-6 win on aggregate. Four goals in ten minutes for the Knights including two from Captain Kieran Brown was the difference.
The MK Lightning got their revenge in the Swindon Wildcats with a 5-1 victory. Five different goal scorers for the Lightning including Dillon Lawrence who made his first return back to the team after being sidelined for months.
The Hull Seahawks completed a comeback to secure their four-point weekend. The Steeldogs led twice in the game but two late goals from Owen Sobchak saw the Seahawks win 5-4. Sobchak with 99 points and Walker Sommer becoming the first player this season to hit 50 goals.
It was a thriller in Slough as the Berkshire Bees beat the Solway Sharks 6-5. Marcel Balaz with a hat-trick on the night and Ralfs Circenis scoring a brace. Carly Robertson also scored a hat-trick for the Sharks.
The final game of the weekend saw a goal-fest in Telford where the Tigers hit doubled figures being the Bristol Pitbulls 12-6. David Thomson getting 6 points and Eric Henderson scoring a hat-trick. Despite Mitchell Walinski’s efforts of scoring four goals for the Pitbulls, it would be the Tigers who maintain their spot in the playoffs.
Tuesday 18th February 2025:
The Leeds Knights carried the momentum from the cup final win with a dominant 6-0 shutout victory against the Sheffield Steeldogs. Former Steeldog Matt Bissonnette scoring twice and getting five points on the night. Finn Bradon also scoring a brace.
Photo Credit: Eye on the puck
