Sunday 22nd January – Moralee Division
Solihull Barons 6 – YKK Widnes Wild 5 (OT)
The YKK sponsored Widnes Wild slipped to a last gasp 6-5 overtime defeat after putting in a battling display away to Solihull Barons on Sunday.
The Barons had hammered Deeside Dragons 10-2 the night before and they started this game in a similarly bombastic fashion, racing to a 3-0 lead in the first 10 minutes of the period.
Widnes eventually got themselves going and pulled a goal back through Nathan Parkes-Britton. By the first period break, the score was 3-3 with goals from Player Coach Richard Haggar and Rhys Edwards and the Wild were back in the game.
The second period saw Widnes up their game and they took the lead for the first time with a powerplay goal from Dani Haid. The Barons equalised but Widnes edged ahead once again to make the score 4-5 with a second goal of the night from Haggar in the last minute of the period.
The Wild found themselves pegged back in the final 20 minutes and an equalising goal for the Barons saw the score tied at 5-5 at the end of the 60 minutes regulation time.
The game then went into a 5 minute period of sudden death overtime where the first team to score would win. Overtime is played with 3 skaters against 3 out on the ice and, if a penalty is called, instead of the offending team dropping to 2 players, the other team gets an extra skater.
Unfortunately, that is exactly what happened when Will Harper was called for tripping and Widnes found themselves playing 3 on 4 for the latter part of the OT period. The resulting pressure was too much to hold out against and the hosts scored the overtime winner with just seconds left on the clock.
The Wild, at least, come home with a league point for the overtime loss (OTL) for the game, having been tied 5-5 at the end of regulation time while the Barons get two points for the win. With Solihull also beating Deeside Dragons at the weekend, this means that they are now well clear in 4th place in the league table with 25 points from 18 games while Widnes have 20 from 18 and remain in 5th.
The YKK Widnes Wild have another busy weekend coming up with a home game against bottom team Sheffield Scimitars on Saturday at Planet Ice Widnes – 5.30pm face off – and then a trip to the North East to face second place Whitley Warriors on Sunday.
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