SHEFFIELD STEELERS 5 TRADE-MART DUNDEE STARS 1
The Trade-Mart Dundee Stars were locked in a tightly contested game for 45 minutes before Sheffield Steelers pulled away to claim a 5-1 victory in Yorkshire, after scoring four times in the third period.
By Kris Smith
Aaron Fox’s men benefitted from an early missed call as Brandon Whistle’s hand pass was not called by the officials and Mikko Juusola would give the Steelers the lead on eight minutes.
Dundee then shutdown the reigning treble champions for the next 40 minutes and would find a leveller in the second period as Ben O’Connor hit a hard but accurate slapshot into the top corner of Matt Greenfield’s net in the 25th minute.
In the third period, both teams pushed hard for the go-ahead-goal but Sheffield could not afford to lose as they would almost be eliminated from the title race and they were then helped back into the lead by a slice of luck.
As the English side came forward in the 46th minute, Dundee’s Spencer Naas attempted to cut out a pass from Daniel Leavens in front of his own net but the puck bounced off of his stick and looped over Jarrett Fiske, before dropping into the Dundee net.
The Steelers then ramped up the pressure even more and found three more goals inside the final four minutes of the match as Marc-Olivier Vallerand added the third goal, before Juusola and Leavens both bagged their braces.
The final buzzer meant that the Steelers kept their hopes of winning back-to-back league titles alive and that Dundee would have to better Manchester Storm’s result on Sunday to clinch the final playoff spot, as the Stars welcome Cardiff Devils to Tayside and the Storm visit Belfast Giants.
Man of the Match
Dundee: #83 Ben O’Connor
Sheffield: #13 Daniel Leavens
Goals
1st:
1-0 Mikko Juusola (Brandon Whistle, Mitchell Balmas) 08:55
2nd:
1-1 Ben O’Connor (Craig Garrigan, Xavier Pouliot) 24:27
3rd:
2-1 Daniel Leavens (Samuel Tremblay, Joona Huttula) 45:58
3-1 Marc-Olivier Vallerand (Robert Dowd, Patrick Watling) 56:04
4-1 Mikko Juusola (Brandon Whistle, Mitchell Balmas) 56:33
5-1 Daniel Leavens (Colton Saucerman, Matthew Greenfield) 59:05
All images: Hayley Roberts.
