Photo’s (C) Jo Loat
Final score: Basingstoke Bison 7-4 Swindon Wildcats (League)
By Matthew Church
Saturday 24th September 2022
Refs: Korsaks and Pickett – Linos: MacPhee and Olczak
Fresh from their opening win of the 2022/2023 league campaign away in Swindon on Friday night, the GalxC Cooling Services sponsored Basingstoke Bison were determined to complete a four-point weekend against the very same side, as the Wildcats made the trip to Hampshire.
In contrast to the previous Saturday, it was the Bison who made an electric start by taking the lead inside the opening minute as Edgars Landsbergs (assisted by Milton and Morris) accepted an aggressive cross-ice pass in behind the Wildcats defence and confidently shot top shelf at just 00:43.
Soon after, the Herd doubled their advantage courtesy of a shorthanded goal by import Marcel Balaz (Norcliffe) at 04:16, as play moved forward following a disagreement between Liam Morris and Tomasz Malasinski before Balaz buried the rebounding puck.
Barely had the first period reached its halfway point when the Bison continued their march towards two points with another goal at 10:33, as the home side’s other import Gaël Lubwele (Norcliffe, Milton) made it 3-0 with a wonderful tip-in following superb forechecking.
Incredibly, there was enough time for the Herd to put themselves 4-0 in front before the opening period break through Zac Milton (Lubwele, Baird) as he finished off an odd-man break by shooting straight through netminder Dean Skinns at 18:15, before the Wildcats took advantage of a sloppy Bison play to score their first goal of the game at 19:59 with a shorthanded goal, scored by Balint Pakozdi (Sayers) to make the score 4-1 after 20 minutes.
Encouraged by that last second goal and having switched netminders, the visitors came out firing in the middle frame and scored their second tally of the contest at 24:53, shorthanded once again, as Russ Cowley (Malasinski) took advantage of another defensive mistake to slot home while alone in space. Exactly two minutes later, the Wildcats put themselves only 4-3 behind with a powerplay goal from the stick of Chris Jones (Nell, Malasinski) at 26:53 as he neatly finished in tight.
Needing to wrestle momentum back, the Bison took their timeout and it proved a wise move as they slowed the game down and at 32:12, extended their advantage once again with a powerplay goal. Pressure down low saw Renny Marr dragged out of position in net and Aidan Doughty (Balaz, Norcliffe) calmly fired home from a tight angle for a 5-3 lead.
The key moment of the contest came at 37:52 when a seemingly harmless shot from Paul Petts (Morris) that should have been deflected away by Renny Marr, somehow trickled through the netminders own legs and across the line, much to the delight and amusement of the home crowd as the Bison went into the second period break 6-3 ahead.
An early powerplay goal for the Wildcats at 41:48 saw their faint hopes of a comeback renewed, as Aaron Nell (Cowley, Pakozdi) produced a classic snipe from the top of the left circle to bring his side back within two goals.
Thankfully, the visitor’s joy would be swiftly brought to a halt at 44:02 when the Herd scored their seventh goal of the contest. Already a fan favourite, import forward Gaël Lubwele (Landsbergs, Milton) was on hand to sumptuously tip-in a precise slap pass by Edgars Landsbergs and move the home team 7-4 in front.
The remainder of the period was an even affair, punctuated more by handbags than scoring chances but it mattered little to the Bison as they played out the final minutes with poise and celebrated a hugely impressive victory against the Swindon Wildcats, to complete a fantastic four-point weekend.
Next up at home, we face the Telford Tigers on Saturday 1st October. See you all there!
Tickets are available to purchase by clicking this link: https://iceaccount.co.uk/basingstoke-bison?Reference=Bison-Website
Match Stats:
Bison stats: Milton 1+3, Lubwele 2+1, Norcliffe 0+3, Balaz 1+1, Morris 0+2, Baird 0+1, Doughty 1+0, Landsbergs 1+0, Petts 1+0
Netminder: Alex Mettam 31/4 (87.09%)
Wildcats stats: Cowley 1+1, Malasinski 0+2, Nell 1+1, Pakozdi 1+1, Jones 1+0, Sayers 0+1
Netminder: Dean Skinns 17/4 (76.47%) – Renny Marr 17/3 (82.35%)
PIM: Bison 18 – Wildcats 20. SOG: Bison 34 – Wildcats 31.
Bison MOM: Landsbergs – Wildcats MOM: Nethersell
