After venturing down to Adelaide to take on the Adrenaline, the Northstars have come home with one win and one loss from some tight games.
On Saturday night, the Northstars 4
defeated Adelaide Adrenaline 3 in overtime.
A scoreless first period for the Northstars saw them behind at first intermission, trailing by a goal at 0-1.
The Northstars came back with Daniel Berno scoring halfway through the second period to tie the game, but Adelaide again went into the break ahead, taking a 1-2 lead at the second intermission.
In the third period, Adelaide scored again to extend its lead to 1-3. Newcastle fought back, though, with goals from Francis Drolet and Sean Oultram. Oultram’s game leveling goal was the first for him since returning in 2022 and his first since 2011. With it, the game was forced into overtime.
Beau Taylor scored the game-winning goal for the Northstars after Francis Drolet took a shot that deflected off the toe of the Adelaide goaltender to the open stick of Taylor.
On Sunday night, the result went the other way with Adelaide 3
defeating Newcastle 2 in the shootout.
A repeat of the night before, another scoreless first period for the Northstars saw them behind at first intermission, down 0-1.
Alexander Yuill capitalised on a deflection off the Adelaide goaltender to score the lone goal of the second period, equalising the game at 1-1.
The third period, was back and forth in a tightly fought contest. Adelaide took the lead halfway through the period, but Kyler Matthews scored for the Northstars in the last minute of the game to equalise the game, 2-2.
A scoreless overtime saw the game go to a shootout where Adelaide would secure the 3-2 win.
Head Coach Kevin Noble was happy with how the team played cross the weekend sharing, “It’s great to get points in both games, especially considering we trailed in both games. You have to have the belief that no matter what happens, we can respond and keep going. So that in itself was a big win for us, that we found ways to get points when we were trailing. Playing with the lead is a lot easier than chasing the game.”
“When you chase the game, usually bad things happen. We were able to find our way and I am really proud of the guys for sticking with it and finding ways to get something out of each game when we had the deck stacked against us for good portions.”
“I think we’re showing that we are really comfortable in close games and our guys have a maturity in those close games that they’re comfortable playing when we’re in front or when we’re behind.”
Moving forward, coach Noble shared they will “focus on rounding out all of our systems and detail, and each week we will focus on a different area to put us in the best position because it’s the little details in the game that change things.”
On Saturday 13
th July, Newcastle need your support as they return home to take on the Adelaide Adrenaline again.
The week after, the Northstars travel to Melbourne to play the Mustangs on Saturday 20
th July and Melbourne Ice on Sunday 21
st July at O’Brien Ice House.