Game Recap: Stars 5 def Xtreme 4

The Noarlunga Stars just made this competition a whole lot tighter.

The Stars used a four goal second period to slip by the Adelaide Xtreme 5-4 on Friday night. The win ensures that all teams are separated by just two points after playing each other three times.

Had the Xtreme won the game it would have been mathematically impossible for the Stars to catch them and the Xtreme would have cliched a playoff spot.

A two goal performance from both Yoann Levesque and Jake Riley mixed with stellar goaltending from Glen Forbes White foiled those plans.

“We played really well as a group,” said Forbes White after the game. “That was our best team effort so far.”

It didn’t necessarily start that way. The Xtreme had the first 14 shots on net.

Glen Forbes-White stopped everything except a Dean Peterson snipe to absorb early pressure. He also made multiple ten-bell saves in tight on dangerous Xtreme forwards.

Jake Riley capitalised on a Yoann Levesque feed in the slot to tie the game with 34 seconds left in the first period.

A chaotic two minute stretch highlighted the second period. Let’s give you the brief notes…

The Xtreme scored the first goal of the second when Nathaniel Benson scored on a breakaway off a nice feed from Jared Siemens.

45 seconds later, Stars forward Ambrose Foster pounced on a loose puck in the slot to score his first NHSL goal and even the game at two.

34 seconds after that Jake Riley grabbed his second goal of the night when he magically sniped a puck from a night angle blocker side on Jeremy Friederich from about two feet out.

43 seconds later, Nathaniel Benson scored his second of the game on an Xtreme powerplay off a nice pass from Dean Peterson.

32 seconds after that, Yoann Levesque scored to put the Stars up 4-3 on a quick reaction shot off the face-off.

Five goals in the space of two minutes and four seconds, all in the middle stages of the frame.

Five minutes later, Yoann Levesque may have scored the goal of the season.  The French Canadian took the puck away from the Xtreme defender, busted up the ice, completely undressed Xtreme defenseman Andrew Chen, then popped a tidy little backhand in to the top of the net to make it 5-3.

The third period saw structured hockey return but Glen Forbes White was the highlight once again.

Nathaniel Benson may have got his hat-trick goal for the Xtreme and made it a one goal lead, but Forbes White turned aside 13 of the 14 shots he faced. He made multiple sprawling saves and a couple big ones on breakaways.

The win moves the Stars to a 2-2-2 record with six points. They sit equal with the Brewers who have a 3-3 record. The Xtreme remain in first with a 4-2 record and eight points.

Next week’s game between the Brewers and Stars will determine who moves into the second playoff spot and wins the season series.

Simply put: It’s Massive.

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