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HELLYER LADDER

Team	GP	W	L	PTS
Ice	4	4	0	12
Thunder	6	4	2	12
Bears	4	3	1	9
Mustangs	2	1	1	3
Ice Dogs	5	1	4	3

RURAK LADDER

Team	GP	W	L	OTW	OTL	PTS
Northstars	4	3	0	1	0	11
Lightning	6	3	3	0	0	9
Adrenaline	3	1	1	0	1	4
Brave	6	1	5	0	0	3
Rhinos	4	0	4	0	0	0

SCORING LEADERS

Jeremiah
Addison (PER)

Player	Points
Aiden Wagner (NNS)	18
Wehebe Darge (NNS)	15
francis Drolet (NNS)	15
Zane Jones (PER)	13

GOALIE LEADERS

N Novysedlak (BRE)

1.000

Goalie	SV%
Rhys Pelliccione (PER)	.950
Tatsunoshin Ishida (MIC)	.933
Leo Bertein (PER)	.905
Charles Smart (NNS)	.903

Ice edge Mustangs with late goal

Thursday, April 30, 2015 - Submitted by Dan Hamer

The Melbourne Ice have defeated the reigning Goodall Cup Champion Melbourne Mustangs 2-1 in a thriller at the Medibank Icehouse.

The hero was Melbourne Ice forward Tommy Powell who managed to sneak the puck past Mustangs goalie Fraser Carson with a mere 19 seconds remaining in the game.

In an electric display of home-grown hockey, the Icehouse was buzzing throughout all three periods, with fans giving the first Melbourne Derby of the season a rousing reception.

Melbourne Ice head coach Brent Laver was more than happy to take home the points and he praised the efforts of Ice goalie Jayden Pine-Murphy who put forth a stellar display between the pipes.

"I thought it was a great game of hockey. Again, another close game in front of a big crowd. It's just great" Laver said. "I thought Jayden [Pine-Murphy, Ice goalie] was amazing. The work that Johan [Steenberg, goalie coach] has done with him has been sensational. We're so lucky to have him."

Laver also said his instructions were simple heading into the final charge- stick to the plan.

"Just keep it simple. Win a period, win a game of hockey. Don't get carried away, just go back to what we know works. Try to get the momentum and then roll with it” Laver said. “All in all it was a solid effort. We dug in when we needed to dig in”.

The opening period of the first Melbourne Derby of the season was hard-hitting and fierce. Playing in front of a packed Medibank Icehouse, the reigning champions (with their crisp, new championship banner hanging proudly on the wall of the Henke Rink) were looking to assert their dominance early, with head coach Brad Vigon stating that there was more on the line than usual; that it felt "territorial".

The intensity of the two sides couldn't be questioned during the first period. It was a match up that was primed to be a great contest; a survival of the fittest. Yet it was Ice Captain Lliam Webster that scored first with 6:28 remaining in the opening period. Scoring the ever-important first goal, Webster corralled the puck out of a face off in the attacking zone and straight past Carson's shoulder.

The Mustangs had an opportunity to tie the game following an uncharacteristic brain-fade by the Ice, the catalyst being a poorly timed line change. This exposed a breakaway opportunity for the Mustangs, but Ice defender Jack Carpenter was swiftly sent to the box for tripping merely to stop the play.

The second period was just as ominous as the first, with star Mustang Joey Hughes getting tossed from the game for after boarding Jack Carpenter. Hughes left the ice with 8:27 remaining in the second period, which would require the defending champions to share the load on the offensive end.

A five minute penalty kill didn't deter the ferocious Mustangs. 2014 Goodall Cup MVP Viktor Gibbs rallied to score a shorthanded goal thanks to a sharp feed from Pat O'Kane, who got behind the Ice defence to form a 2-on-1.

After the final intermission, the game had taken the form of an arm wrestle. Both sides struggled to maintain momentum. Strong showings from both goalies were essential to their respective teams, but as the prospect of a shootout was looming, the Melbourne Ice scored the go-ahead goal through Tommy Powell with 19 seconds remaining on the clock. It was a stellar passing play through traffic, with assists from Matt Armstrong and Ice newcomer Paul Kurceba.

Both teams’ penalty kill units were strong from start to finish. Neither team capitalised on a power play (Ice 0 for 3, Mustangs 0 for 4).
Melbourne Mustangs head coach Brad Vigon said there are plenty of positives to come out of the loss.

"It was a hell of a hockey game played by two really good teams. That game could've gone either way for a long time. It would've been fun to watch," Vigon said. "It's hard to lose it, but there are a lot of positives that we can take from this moving forward. I think everybody feels pretty good about the way we played for the most part”.

Vigon continued, saying the chances were there, but his team failed to capitalise when it mattered.

“I felt we had higher quality chances but we just didn’t bury them. Our execution was pretty good for the most part, but we just weren’t finishing off our chances” Vigon said.

Both Melbourne teams will face the North Stars this weekend. Newcastle plays the Mustangs on Saturday at 5pm and the Ice on Sunday at 4pm.

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