All Photographs (C) Jo Loat
Final score: Basingstoke Bison 5-4 Bees IHC (Pre-season)
By Matthew Church
Saturday 3rd September 2022
Refs: Hands and Wells – Linos: Hill and Olczak
Hello everyone, we are back! A scorching summer has flown by and as September begins, so does another season of action for the GalxC Cooling Services sponsored Basingstoke Bison, in the newly named Planet Ice NIHL National Division.
First up for the Herd was a double-header of pre-season games against fierce rivals, Bees IHC (formerly based in Bracknell) from Slough. With a host of new faces to the roster, including the two imports Gael Lubwele and Marcel Balaz, the home side were looking to dust off the cobwebs in front of a raucous home crowd.
It was a dream start for the Bison and their new number 9 as they opened the scoring on the powerplay at 5:41, Gael Lubwele (assisted by Zac Milton and Ryan Sutton) making it a debut to remember as he raced into the offensive zone and fired home for a 1-0 lead.
There were no further goals in the opening period so the Herd took a one goal lead into the first period break.
However, less than a minute into the middle frame the Bison saw their lead doubled through man-of-the-moment Gael Lubwele (Kelly, Baird) at 20:36, as the home team took advantage of a loose puck and the new import struck with precision for a 2-0 scoreline. As the game approached the halfway point, a second powerplay goal of the night came the way of the Bison at 27:33, when Aidan Doughty (Lubwele) poked home the puck from close range following a saved by netminder Dan Weller-Evans on a deflected shot.
It was a frantic end to the middle frame, as the Bison put themselves 4-0 ahead thanks to defenceman Jay King (Mitchell) when he took a blueline pass from young prospect Marcus Mitchell and lasered home from distance at 36:38 to the delight of the home crowd. Exactly two minutes later, the visitors finally scored their opening goal of the game courtesy of Dan Rose (H.Stead, Mogg) at 38:38 on the powerplay with a tipped shot that left Lawday helpless in net.
Two goals within two minutes in the opening stages of the final frame saw the Bees side bring themselves firmly back into contention. Young star Juha Lindgren (Rose, Walkom) found himself left unmarked at 43:23 to slam home and reduce the deficit to 4-2. Shortly after, at 44:52 import forward Dominik Gabaj (H.Stead) expertly tipped the puck past Lawday from a long range shot which saw his side climb back to within one goal. With nerves fraying all over the rink, the comeback was complete for the away side at 56:50 with an impressive burst of speed from new addition Brendon Walkom (Pitchley, Baird), as he raced past the Bison defence and neatly dispatched the puck, tying the contest at 4-4.
Heading for overtime? Not a chance, said the Herd! Just as fans had accepted the game would be heading past 60 minutes, up stepped their newly-named captain to save the day as fan-favourite George Norcliffe (unassisted) found the loose puck not far from the Bees goal and slammed home at 58:20 to rescue his side with a game-winning goal, producing scenes of chaos in the crowd.
The visitors pulled their netminder with the clock winding down in favour of the extra attacker but the Bison held on for a 5-4 victory on their return to home ice.
Next up at home, sees the Herd welcome a team brand new to the league, Bristol Pitbulls, to town on Saturday 10th September. See you all there!
Tickets for Saturdays game are available to purchase by clicking the following link: https://iceaccount.co.uk/basingstoke-bison?Reference=Bison-Website
Match Stats:
Bison MOM: Lubwele – Bees MOM: Lindgren
Bison stats: Lubwele 2+1, Baird 0+1, Doughty 1+0, Kelly 0+1, King 1+0, Milton 0+1, Mitchell 0+1, Norcliffe 1+0
Netminder: Jordan Lawday 30/4 (86.66%)
Bees stats: Rose 1+1, Stead 0+2, Walkom 1+1, Baird 0+1, Gabaj 1+0, Lindgren 1+0, Mogg 0+1, Pitchley 0+1
Netminder: Dan Weller-Evans 31/5 (83.87%)
PIM: Bison 16 – Bees 50. SOG: Bison 31 – Bees 30.
