AWIHL Game Day Program (11-12 February 2023)

GAME DAY

In This Edition..

Item

Acknowledgement Of Country

In the spirit of reconciliation the AWIHL acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community

Sovereignty was never ceded and we pay our respect to Elders past and present and the continuation of cultural, spiritual and educational practices of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.

Welcome Hockey Fans!

The AWIHL would like to congratulate the Mighty Bucks on securing Gold and promotion in last week’s IIHF Men’s U20 Division III tournament. It was wonderful to see support from the U18 Women’s Junior Flyers and the U20 Men’s Mighty Bucks for each other’s campaigns.

This weekend marks the last weekend before another mini-break for the IIHF Division II-B Women’s World Championships - where Australia’s Flyers will compete for Gold in Cape Town, South Africa. We are pleased to announce that we will provide another Tournament Guide so fans can follow the team’s quest for Gold

That being said, there is everything to play for in the AWIHL this weekwhich features a pair of two-game sets: the Sydney Sirens host the Perth Inferno and the Brisbane Lightning host the Melbourne Ice.

The Melbourne Ice have a chance to clinch the minor premiership, the Brisbane Lightning have a chance to clinch the fourth and final playoff spot, the Sydney Sirens could end the weekend in the top spot and the Perth Inferno could leapfrog Sydney for second place.

Check out our Series Previews inside for more..

The AWIHL would like to thank everyone who is giving their time, hard work and support to make this Season a success: our hard-working Players and Staff, our very dedicated Volunteers, our generous Sponsors and our wonderful Supporters.

Thank you all!

Photograph: Phil Taylor Photographic

Last Weekend

4-5 February - Cockburn Ice Arena, Perth

Perth Inferno 4 def Adelaide Rush 1

Adelaide Rush 5 def Perth Inferno 3

Last weekend saw just one series played - between the Adelaide Rush and the Perth Inferno at Cockburn Ice Arena.

Saturday February 4 was World Cancer Day. The Perth Inferno partnered with Cancer Council WA and held ‘Stick it to Cancer’ night Inferno players wore special jerseys and socks that were auctioned off after the game, with proceeds supporting cancer research.

Perth entered the game knowing it could clinch a Playoff spot with a regulation win. Lilly McLellan scored her first career AWIHL goal to put Perth ahead in the first period and a three-goal second period gave Perth a four-goal lead Candice Mitchell scored a consolation goal for Adelaide late in the third to spoil Sasha King’s shutout bid and the game ended 4-1 in Perth’s favour.

Sunday’s game saw Madison Smith make her first start for Adelaide since returning from backstopping the Junior Flyers to a Gold medal campaign in Dumfries, Great Britain.

Adelaide fell behind quickly to goals from Elizabeth Scala and Michelle Clark-Crumpton. Kaitlyn Malthaner and Kate Tihema restored parity for Adelaide by the end of the first period.

The second period saw Adelaide take their first lead of the game and the weekend through Tiffany Venning. Scala scored her second to peg the Rush back on the Powerplay.

With the Rush’s playoff hopes on the line, Kirsty Venus and Torie Cybulski scored Powerplay goals early in the third and the Rush hung on for their first victory away from home this season. The victory puts the Rush just one point behind the Brisbane Lightning for the fourth and final playoff spot.

Last Weekend

Photographs courtesy of Cass Edwards

This Weekend Sirens

Inferno vs Macquarie Ice Rink, Sydney

Saturday 4:30pm; Sunday 8:15am (Times AEDT)

Tickets: Available at the door.

Sydney will play their final games of the season this weekend against the Inferno, and Saturday’s game will be a chance for fans to recognise one of the club’s greats. Former Captain Amelia Matheson will have her number retired in a special ceremony.

Last season’s Champions still have an outside chance of finishing first overall and will need to pick up maximum points against the Inferno to keep their minor premiership dreams alive.

Sharna Godfrey also has a chance to record her 300th career AWIHL point; the Siren’s star is currently on 299 career points and is fourth in the scoring race.

Elizabeth Scala (T-1st) and Michelle Clark-Crumpton (3rd) will look to add to their impressive point totals and push for the individual scoring title.

The Inferno will also be keen to collect its first series sweep of the season after splitting each of its four series played thus far. Perth could lock up the second-overall spot on the table with a series sweep.

Sponsors

our valuable Sponsors.

The AWIHL would like to thank

Lightning

Ice This Weekend

vs Ice World Boondall, Brisbane

Saturday 5:00pm; Sunday 7:00am (Times AEST)

ckets: https://lightning.hockeysyte.com/shop

A four-point weekend from the Melbourne Ice will seal the minor premiership with a series to spare and cap off an impressive regular season campaign.

Central to the Ice’s success has been their Goaltending; Makayla Peers and Jenelle Carson sit first and second among Goalies in Save Percentage (Peers .955, Carson .942) and Goals Against Average (Peers 1.12, Carson 1.74).

The Lightning can seal the fourth and final playoff spot with a series sweep in regulation against the league-leading Ice.

They have relied on contributions from their entire line-up; incredibly, the top-scoring players for the Lightning, Sharnita Crompton, Lindsey Kiliwnik, and Veera Laiho (5 points each), are tied for 24th overall in the league.

Recently selected for the Senior Women’s team travelling to South Africa later this month, Imogen Perry has demonstrated the ability to steal games this season for the Lightning and will need to be at her best to take points away from the league-leading Melbourne Ice.

Around The League Brisbane Lightning

National Representatives

The Brisbane Lightning would like to acknowledge Katrina Rapchuk and Courtney Mahoney - who won Gold with the Australian U18s team in the recent World Championships in Dumfries, Scotland.

Brisbane Lightning team members Lindsey Kiliwnik, Imogen Perry, Jaimi Goonan and Katrina Rapchuk will shortly be heading to Cape Town, South Africa with the National Women's team.

Development Session

Recently, the Brisbane Lightning ran a Development Session - supporting the many up and coming female hockey players in Queensland.

Photograph: Brisbane Lightning

Photograph: Brisbane Lightning

Around The League Perth Inferno

On Saturday February 4, the Perth Inferno welcomed the Adelaide Rush to the Cockburn Ice Arena - and hosted their first 'Stick It To Cancer' game to increase awareness and raise money for Cancer Council WA

The Inferno wore specially-designed black and purple uniforms - which were auctioned off to benefit the Cancer Council.

The game was supported by a very healthy crowd - with more than 200 tickets being sold before game day. All told, a crowd of over 250 attendedand saw the Inferno beat the Rush 4 goals to 1

The Jersey Auction - which finished on February 7 - raised over $1,700.

All told, the Inferno's first 'Stick It To Cancer' game raised almost $2,000 for a very worthy cause.

Goaltender Madison Ackerer summed up the feeling of the team perfectly: "It was amazing! All the girls were so proud to support the cause and play to raise awareness."

Photograph: Perth Inferno

Around The League Sydney Sirens

Before Saturday's game between the Sirens and the Perth Inferno, a special ceremony will take place.

Long-time Sydney Sirens player Amelia Matheson will have her Jersey retired and will perform the ceremonial Puck Drop.

Amelia played her first AWIHL game on 18 October 2008 and appeared in 152 games for the Sydney Sirens.

Amelia was Sirens Captain from 2016 to 2019 - leading the team to a Championship in the 2016-17 season.

The Sydney Sirens family would like to congratulate Amelia on this award.

Amelia's Career Statistics: Games: 152 / Goals: 66; Assists: 100; Points: 166 / PIM: 114

Photographs of the ceremony will appear in the next AWIHL Game Day Program

Photographs: Sydney Sirens

Next Games

4-5 March - Ice Arena, Adelaide

Adelaide Rush versus Brisbane Lightning Saturday - 4:00pm; Sunday - 10:00am (Times ACST)

4-5 March - Cockburn Ice Arena, Perth

Perth Inferno versus Melbourne Ice Saturday - 4:30pm; Sunday - 10:00am (Times AWST)

18-19 March - O'Brien Icehouse, Melbourne

AWIHL Finals

"Net, Sticks and Chill"

Looking for your AWIHL fix in a Podcast form?

Listen to the Inner Sanctum's "Net, Sticks and Chill" Podcast and you'll hear review, commentary and interviews from around the League - and the Australian Ice Hockey community. Subscribe

Have feedback about the Game Day Program?

If you have something you would like to suggest (or a correction), we'd love to hear from you! Send an email to: gordon.goodenough@iha.org.au

Game Day Program Credits

Layout and Design: Scott Stevenson

IHA Content Strategist and Communications Manager: Gordon Goodenough Consultation Group:

Michaela Fellowes, Mikahlia Holmes, Andrew Macdougall, Steven Poletti, Kylie Taylor

Photographs: Phil Taylor, Cass Edwards