Image (C) Jo Loat
Final score: Basingstoke Bison 1-4 Leeds Knights (League)
By Matthew Church
Sunday 19th February 2023
Refs: Ions and Poulton – Linos: Cook and Sore.
The GalxC Cooling Services sponsored Basingstoke Bison returned home after a hugely important victory away in Bristol the previous night, to host the league-leading Leeds Knights and were aiming for a giant upset.
Despite this being their fourth game of the week, the visitors set the tempo early on and their attacking quality was clear for all to see. Most of the play was stationed in the Bison defensive zone and five minutes in, Mac Howlett went closest for the Knights as he rang a fierce shot off the crossbar. A powerplay opportunity for the away side presented them with further chances to take the lead but to the Herd’s credit, they held firm and killed the penalty to remain level. At 14:59, however, the deadlock was finally broken when an attack down the right wing eluded the Bison defence before a centering pass found Cole Shudra (assisted by Brooks and Zajac) at the back post for a simple tap-in.
It certainly wasn’t all one-way traffic though and Bison did create some chances of their own as both Marcel Balaz and Liam Morris saw efforts repelled by the ever-impressive Sam Gospel in net, which kept the visitors 0-1 ahead after 20 minutes. The middle frame followed a similar pattern to that of the opening period, with the Knights dominating puck possession and the Bison looking to break on the counter attack, making it all the more disappointing when a missed chance for the Herd was punished by the visitors doubling their lead. A quick break led to another back-door tap-in at 27:44, this time by import forward Jake Witkowski (Zajac, Brooks) as he put the Knights 0-2 in front.
Already battling fiercely to stay in the game, a contentious penalty called against the Bison left the fans incensed and the players ultimately facing a 5-on-3 penalty kill situation. The home side fought hard and almost survived, but Jake Witkowski (C.Shudra, Brown) pounced in close to move his side 0-3 ahead at 34:48, leaving the Bison with a mountain to climb. Whilst the scoreline at this point looked one-sided, the Herd had pushed the visitors hard, impressing the fans in attendance and certainly could have been much closer if not for some heroic netminding by Gospel. Finally, at 37:47 their efforts were rewarded by a fine goal from in-form Edgars Landsbergs (Wilson) to the delight of the Bison faithful. A stretch-pass sent ‘Eddie’ racing towards the Knights goal on a solo breakaway, before calmly sniping past Gospel and into the top corner, leaving the home team 1-3 behind after 40 minutes.
Perhaps unlikely, but still possible, the hope of a comeback was there for the Herd as they continued to scrap and frustrate the visitors all over the ice, until the final blow was struck at 47:18. Leading by example, captain Kieran Brown (Brooks, C.Shudra) collected a rebound in space and had time to pick his spot, firing past Lawday in goal and moving his team 1-4 in front, leaving the Bison with a little too much to do. The overall difference in quality had shown by this point and the remainder of the period passed without much trouble to leave the Knights with another victory, in their quest for the league title.
Frustration at losing was tempered by knowing that beating the Pitbulls the night before, was arguably more important for the Bison in their tussle for the playoff spots of 7th and 8th place.
Next up at home, sees a visit from the Peterborough Phantoms on Saturday 25th February. See you all there!
Tickets are available for Saturdays Planet Ice National League fixture by clicking the following link: https://iceaccount.co.uk/basingstoke-bison?Reference=Bison-Website
Match Stats:
Bison stats: Landsbergs 1+0, Wilson 0+1
Netminder: Jordan Lawday 35/39 (89.74%)
Knights stats: Brooks 0+3, C.Shudra 1+2, Brown 1+1, Witkowski 2+0, Zajac 0+2
Netminder: Sam Gospel 21/22 (95.45%)
PIM: Bison 10 – Knights 4. SOG: Bison 22 – Knights 39.
Bison MOM: Landsbergs – Knights MOM: Witkowski
