The YKK Widnes Wild faced the Blackburn Hawks in cup action on Saturday on the back of an impressive 4 point weekend. However, the Hawks left with the points after taking a 5-7 victory, including a late empty-net goal. Widnes lined up with 17+2 with the return of Owen Rae, who scored his 1st goal in a Wild jersey!
Meanwhile, the Hawks travelled with a healthy squad of 16+2, but were missing forward James Royds. It was the battle of the #35s in goal; Luca Tessadri was between the pipes for Widnes, whilst Oliver Thomasson guarded the crease for Blackburn.
Wild quickly fired at Thomasson from the initial face-off, having a point to prove after his shut-out in the last meeting between the sides. However, he performed for the Hawks to prevent the Wild claiming an early lead. A breakaway chance for Blackburn at 7:29 was converted by #20 Jacob Lutwyche after he deked past Tessadri to slot the puck past the line, assisted by #10 Josh Crawley and #77 Ben McLellan.
Widnes soon returned to the attack, but failed to grab an equaliser before the Hawks converted again. Blackburn’s top points scorer #28 James Riddoch fired towards Tessadri at 12:28 who despite getting a touch on the initial shot, failed to stop the goal, assisted by #88 Adam Barnes and #9 Matthew Cross.
Player-coach #63 Joey Coulter soon led by example for the Wild to reduce the deficit on the breakaway after a pass from #5 Rhys Edwards at 16:03. Widnes continued to apply the pressure and were rewarded with the equaliser minutes later. D-man #55 Owen Rae scored his 1st goal in a Wild jersey with a top-corner finish after a cross-ice pass from King Ken Armstrong and Joey Coulter at 18:58.
Widnes Wild celebrating Owen Rae’s 1st goal
Widnes were struck with 2 penalties in the opening minutes of the 2nd period. Despite killing the 1st, Blackburn’s #88 Adam Barnes capitalised on the 2nd just 12 seconds before Widnes returned to 5 skaters to re-claim the lead at 27:40, assisted by #11 Luke Watson and #35 Oliver Thomasson.
The hawks then handed a chance to the Wild after #98 Sam Warnock sat for tripping at 28:48 but they failed to level the score. Widnes’ #39 Matty Barlow received a tripping penalty at 31:09, putting his side at risk of conceding again.
However, #5 Rhys Edwards replicated his snipe from the previous game to equalise, assisted by #16 Mikey Gilbert and #18 Johnathon Williamson at 31:42 short-handed. Nothing could separate the 2 teams in the last 10 minutes of the middle frame, keeping the score at 3-3 heading into the break with 20 minutes left to play.
Blackburn Hawks netminder #35 Oliver Thomasson
Blackburn bagged a 4th goal at 41:27 to clench back the advantage through #10 Josh Crawley with a back door tap-in, assisted by #80 Bobby Streetly and #70 Lee Pollitt.
However, it didn’t last long. Rhys Edwards grabbed his 2nd goal of the night assisted by linemates Coulter and Carruth at 43:05. An exchange of words between Ronnie Grimes and Kyle Carruth at 47:04 then left Widnes on a penalty kill. Within the same minute, #88 Adam Barnes found a way past Tessadri at 47:58 on the power-play, assisted by #80 Bobby Streetly and #70 Lee Pollitt.
Captain #8 Aaron Davies was called for interference at 50:08, giving Widnes a chance to equalise with the extra player. The hat-trick for Edwards came at 50:59 after he fired top-corner following a feed from Carruth and Barlow.
Joey Coulter + Rhys Edwards celebrating his hat-trick goal
A tripping penalty for #55 Owen Rae then allowed #88 Adam Barnes to claim his hat-trick at 53:16, assisted by Streetly and Jurinenoks posting the score at 5-6.
Bailey Thomson carried the puck forward for Widnes and was tripped, leading to a penalty shot. Thomson deked in an attempt to fool Thomasson, but he made the final stop on the near to post, preventing Widnes evening out the score.
Wild continue to push on the offence but failed to find the target. After a time-out call, netminder Luca Tessadri was pulled in the final 30 seconds in favour of an extra skater. With just 14 seconds remaining, Josh Crawley claimed his 3rd point of the night after he fired in the empty-netter, finishing the final score at 5-7 to Blackburn.
MVPs were awarded to hat-trick hero Rhys Edwards for Widnes and defenceman Calum Ruddick for Blackburn.
Officials: Fraley, Kolarz, MacKinnon
STATS –
Widnes Wild: Rhys Edwards 3+1, Joey Coulter 1+2, Owen Rae 1+0, Johnathon Williamson 0+2, Kyle Carruth 0+2, Mikey Gilbert 0+1, Matty Barlow 0+1, Ken Armstrong 0+1
Blackburn Hawks: Adam Barnes 3+1, Josh Crawley 2+1, Jacob Lutwyche 1+0, James Riddoch 1+0, Bobby Streetly 0+3, Lee Pollitt 0+2, Ben McLellan 0+1, Matthew Cross 0+1, Luke Watson 0+1, Devids Jurinenoks 0+1, Oliver Thomasson 0+1
Article written by Fleur Tobin
Photos taken by Ste Cunningham