The Sydney Bears headed to Canberra for the first time this season to play the CBR Brave on Saturday May 7. With the team having trained together during the week and the Bears debut of Australian goaltender Anthony Kimlin, the Bears were keen to put the losses to the Brave & Ice Dogs behind them.
In a penalty riddled first period for both teams, the Brave opened the scoring early.Tomas Landa replied later in the period while the Bears were shorthanded with an assist from Cameron Todd. The score was tied 1-1 at the end of the first period.
The Bears scored midway through period 2 via captain Michael Schlamp, scoring on a powerplay. Geoff Irwin & Ryan Annesley assisted on the skipper's goal. The Brave equalised minutes later in what would turn out to be the only even strength goal of the entire game.
The third period saw the strong play continue however both teams did not score in the third period. At the end of regulation time, the score was still 2-2. With at least 1 competition point in hand, Geoff Irwin & Billy Cliff found the net for the Bears while the Brave missed 2 out of 3 shots. This gave the Bears their first win of the season in a shootout, 3-2.
There were many great performances across the ice for the Bears in a vast improvement in attack and defence compared to the previous 2 games as combinations start to form. Major credit to Bears goalie Anthony Kimlin who only arrived into Australia on the morning of the match after a long haul flight and a drive to Canberra but still looked sharp. The Bears did not allow the Brave to dictate the pace of the game and fought hard all game.
After returning from Canberra, the Bears are back in action on Sunday afternoon (May 8) at Liverpool against the Sydney Ice Dogs in the second regular season Battle Of Sydney starting at 5pm.
Story - Eric Brook
Photo - Paul Furness
MUSTANGS
BRAVE
ICE
THUNDER
RHINOS
NORTHSTARS
ADRENALINE
LIGHTNING
