THE Solway Sharks were beaten twice at home by the Peterborough Phantoms last weekend at Dumfries Ice Bowl.
On Saturday, despite a gridlocked score for the majority of play, the Phantoms clenched a 3-5 victory.
And on Sunday the Sharks suffered a much narrower 3-2 loss, with Peterborough wrapping up a four point weekend.
Against the run of play in the first period on Saturday, Phantoms captain Luke Ferrara fired the puck past Jordan Marr on a breakaway at 19:24, seeing Peterborough gain a narrow lead after the opening 20 minutes.
Solway quickly looked to answer back in the middle frame, but the Phantoms soon doubled their lead as Jarvis Hunt redirected Nojus Venskutonis’ original shot with a tip in the crease at 24:23.
The efforts from the Solway forwards were eventually converted into an opening goal at 33:30 as John Dunbar slotted the rebound past Hayden Lavigne after Nolan Gardiner’s initial shot from the left face-off circle, to halve the deficit.
Sharks retained possession following the first marker and a cool, calm and collected Dunbar fired top shelf from point over the traffic to claim the equalising goal at 35:45.
Sharks then worked a play to break the deadlock in the final frame. Gardiner fired five-hole on Lavigne after the feed from behind the goal by Dunbar, putting Sharks ahead for the first time at 48:52.
However, the Phantoms reacted quickly and answered back through Duncan Speirs.
Solway were handed their first penalty of the evening at 56:29 and the hosts were then forced to go three-on-five at 58:06 with a tied scoreline after Stuart Kerr was called for delaying the game.
Despite their defensive efforts, the Phantoms clenched a go-ahead goal through Ferrara to give Peterborough the edge in the dying moments.
The visitors punished Solway further at the death as Ferrara claimed his hat-trick to seal a 3-5 win for the Phantoms.
Solway welcomed Peterborough for the second consecutive evening 24 hours later.
The Phantoms got off to the best start possible as Speirs cleaned up the rebound after Nathan Salem’s original shot to put the visitors ahead at 1:01.
Craig Peacock, claiming his first goal since his brief return, then levelled the score at 28:38.
The Phantoms clenched a late marker in the second period after a breakaway was converted over Calum Hepburn’s pads by Austin Mitchell-King following the feed from Speirs at 38:02.
The Sharks controlled possession early in the final frame and capitalised on the run of play after a saucer pass from Dunbar was slotted home by Gardiner.
Sharks landed themselves with another penalty to kill at 53:21 after confusion on the changes resulted in a too many men call. Just 30 seconds later, Jarvis Hunt slotted the loose change past Hepburn after the shot from Cam Hough on the right wing to give Phantoms a 2-3 lead.
Sharks came agonisingly close to a late equaliser after Kell Beattie let one rip from point, but again Luke Clark made the stop to secure a four-point weekend for the Phantoms on the road.
This weekend, the Solway Sharks are back in Dumfries to take on the Bristol Pitbulls.
The action kicks off at 5.30 pm, with the puck drop set for 7.00 pm sharp at the ice bowl. Tickets are on sale now at sharksihc.com/tickets or in person at Dumfries Ice Bowl.
