A FOUR-GOAL middle period helped Solway Sharks to an emphatic 8-1 victory over the Bristol Pitbulls at Dumfries Ice Bowl on Saturday night.
Solway got off to the perfect start after Mason Alderson raced down the right wing and deked past the Bristol defence to fire over Tommy Nappier’s pads at 1:52.
Just as Bristol were starting to find their feet in the game, John Dunbar followed suit and broke down the right to fire top shelf on Nappier.
The hosts found themselves a man short early in the middle frame as Stuart Kerr was called for interference. Exactly a minute later, Sean Morris jammed the puck past Jordan Marr which halved the deficit for Bristol.
But, just moments later, Olivier Arseneau answered back for Solway after connecting with the puck mid-air on a full-length stretch.
Solway then went 4-1 up through Scott Henderson who fired low past Nappier from the crease.
The Sharks capitalised on their PP chance once again through Dunbar, who fired the puck from the tightest of angles aside the goal line at 37:45 posting Solway four goals clear.
Bristol failed to break down the Sharks offensive threat as Nolan Gardiner added another to the tally at 39:22, firing five-hole through Nappier. Pitbulls’ Reece Cochrane snapped his stick in anger following the goal, seeing him sit for unsportsmanlike conduct at 39:22.
There was a brief break in play at 52:19 after Lewis Young collided awkwardly with Mitch Walinski along the boards, seeing him head to the changing rooms early.
After play resumed Kell Beattie added his name to the scoresheet, firing a one-timer at point past Nappier after the thread from Dunbar.
And Gardiner picked up his second of the evening in the final minute, sending the puck across the line as his stick snapped simultaneously, to secure his side an 8-1 win in the Shark Tank.
On Sunday the Sharks ventured south to face the Peterborough Phantoms.
However, the Dumfries side took a 4-1 defeat to the home side after a clinical powerplay performance.
Despite the long bus journey, the Sharks dominated the opening period.
They opened the scoring when top points scorer Gardiner slotted the rebound off his initial shot wide of Hayden Lavigne’s catcher.
The Sharks headed to the penalty kill for the first time in the game at 37:02 as Dunbar sat for tripping Luke Ferrara. Seconds later, Cam Hough slotted the puck past Marr on the backdoor.
In the third period Peterborough captain Ferrara later fired from the slot, beating Marr through traffic at 47:24, to give the hosts the lead.
Peterborough retained their 100 per cent powerplay conversion rate at 53:07 after Hough, claimed his second of the evening
Late on the Phantoms were called for icing, causing a break in play which allowed Solway to call Marr to the bench in favour of an extra forward.
However, the risk failed to pay off as Hough claimed his hat-trick with an empty netter at 58:44.
The Sharks are back on home ice this Saturday against the Berkshire Bees.
Solway will take to the ice wearing their Pride jerseys. And after the game, fans are invited to Sharky’s Bar for an exciting live auction, where they will have the chance to bid on the limited-edition jerseys. Doors open at 5.30 pm for a 7 pm face/off.
