Moles move into first place tie with Wildcards

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The Moles disposed of Khimik 3 – 0 led by Kara Okeke’s 2 assists and a goal and another Sam Bailey shutout.

For Bailey, it was another brilliant day, as he made 14 saves to record his third shutout in six exhibition games in the second round.

For Okeke, who is mostly known for her defence, it was her best offensive game of the season.

“As the exhibition round progressed, I felt more comfortable in taking more chances in leading the rush and being creative on the offensive,” said the 23-year-old San Olympian.

And that she did as she opened up scoring in the second period with an end to end rush that drew two defenders her way before she deftly dropped the puck to a trailing Aaron Bello who snapped a shot past Khimik goalie Veronica Danilenko.

Just four minutes later, Okeke led another rush down the ice, waited for a few teammates to screen Danilenko, before slapping a shot from the point past a blinded Danilenko to make the score 2 – 0.

In the third period, Okeke played a little give and go with teammate Bryan Taylor who slid the puck between Danilenko’s legs to ice the game 3 – 0.

With the win, the Moles moved into a first place tie with the Wildcards to end the second round of exhibition for ISMO hockey. Both the Wildcards and Moles ended with a 4 – 2 record.

“I’m not sure what happens next but it would be nice to see if we could have a tiebreaker to see who the top team really is,” said Moles Captain Janice Campbell. “I believe we were both the best teams in round 1 and round 2 so I think the fans deserve a definitive champion.”

In his address to the media afterwards, ISMO President Fredrick Seulovik was a bit coy on a potential final match.

“I’ll talk to each of the teams and colonies to see where we go from here but based on the positive feedback we’ve been getting so far, I believe exhibition hockey has been a success. Overall, we’re pleased with the participation.”

However, when asked about the format complaints Khimik issued to ISMO about the Europa colony, Seulovik responded, “We’ll take a look into that and talk with both parties. Lots of lessons learned in this exhibition, but overall the needle is pointing upwards.

For Khimik, that needle was pointing straight back to Korolev as players immediately left after the game.  In a prepared media statement, Khimik expressed discontent with the Exhibition format, “We never should have left Korolev. As the pioneers of hockey, it was a mistake for us to leave such a supportive colony for one that was indifferent.”

Brawls and Boos—Khimik Loses Again

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Fight Club.

That’s the reputation Khimik has developed.

Fighting with other teams as the losses mount and the frustration grows.

And now fighting with fans outside of the games as relationship between Khimik players and the Europa colony deteriorates.

Local Europa authorities were called in late last night at the Red Moon Pub as a brawl broke out between drunk Khimik players and Europa residents.

“We were just keeping to ourselves until a number of Europa fans started to harass us”, said Khimik player, Mihail Rybar, “We didn’t start it but we will finish it if we have to.”

Europa fans who witnessed the uproar didn’t agree with Rybar’s assessment.

“The Khimik players were loud and boorish,” said one Europan fan. “While my Russian isn’t very good, we could tell the Khimik players were dissing us and our colony so some fans asked them to tone it down and they took offense and before you know it, fists were flying.”

And while authorities continue to investigate the matter, Khimik proceeded to game day against the Cosmonauts as if nothing happened.

Today’s game between the two colonies with deep Russian roots, it was clear there was no love lost between cousins as feisty play and some fighting resulted in six penalties overall.

Fans at Europa jeering at Khimik.

Neither was there any love lost between Khimik and Europa fans.  Freshly aware of the pub brawl the night before, the home crowd was actively cheering for the Cosmonauts all game.

And booing Khimik.

The first instance of jeers occurred with just 2 minutes into the first period.  Khimik’s Alex Yanovna (an alleged participant in the pub brawl) opened up scoring with a quick wrist shot past Cosmonauts goalie, Marius Hansen.

Much to Yanovna’s dismay, he was greeted with a wave of boos, which Yanovna greeted back with an obscene hand gesture.

Sparked by the increasingly enthusiastic chants of  “Go Cosmos Go”, the Cosmonauts responded back at the 9 minute mark as Hugo Milosevic and Anna Fedin played a little give-and-go on a two-on-one rush with Fedin finishing with a shot in the top left corner to tie up the game 1-1.

With less than two minutes left in the 1st period, Cosmonaut’s Yaro Novak deked past a number of Khimik players and put a shot through the pads of Hansen to take the lead with Europa fans erupting into wild applause.

Khimik frustration in the second period continued as the Cosmonauts kept them off the scoreboard while Europa fans goaded Khimik with their taunting.

The Cosmonauts iced the game in the first minute and a half of the third period with their third goal of the game. Katy Fedin delivered a back handed pass from behind the net to Stephen Meyer who slapped a shot past Hansen with the crowd responding with a thunderous ovation.

After the game, Khimik players rushed out of the dressing room and avoided the media throng.

“That was one of the most bizarre and surreal things I’ve ever experienced”, said Cosmonauts Captain Anna Fedin. “The crowd was like an extra attacker for us but I almost feel bad for Khimik. I’m sure this exhibition round can’t end soon enough for them.”

Chaos with Khimik as they move to bottom of standings

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In front of a raucous home crowd, the Wildcards escaped with a last minute 1 - 0 over Khimik at Wendland rink. And with the win, the Wildcards move to 2 and 2 for the season while Khimik moves to the bottom of the second exhibition round with a 1 – 3 record.

Despite a barrage of scoring chances from Khimik throughout the game, the Wildcards’ Jules Arquette was brilliant in net and steady defensive play from Amelia Harris and Brandon Phan also helped shut down Khimik attempts.

“Very frustrating,” said Khimik Captain, Alex Yanovna. “I feel like we were the better team as we had so many scoring chances but luck was not on our side.”

Luck was clearly not on Khimik’s side but frustration was, as Khimik exhibited wildly aggressive play throughout the game resulting in four penalties – two in the 1st and 2nd periods respectively.

To Khimik’s fortune, the Wildcards were unable to capitalize on the power play opportunities as Khimik goalie Veronica Danilenko matched Arquette’s brilliance with repeated saves.

And just as all signs pointed to overtime, the Wildcards forward, Mateo Martinez was able to provide a spark of magic. With less than a minute to play in the game, Martinez was able to cut through two defenders and fire a wrist shot just over Veronica Danilenko for the winning goal.

For Martinez, it was his 18th goal in 10 games.

martinez breaksaway down the ice to score the only goal of the game

After the goal, a number of Khimik players smashed their sticks on the ice and refused to speak to members of the press.

Yanovna did offer this statement, “No, we are not happy with our record so far and it does not help that the media is focusing so much on our losses. I think this is fueling all the negative comments we are getting from Europa fans. As pioneers of hockey on Mars, we think Europa colony should give us a bit more credit. All I hear are their complaints.”

Europa resident and Khimik player Peter Lehmann tried to defuse the situation upon hearing his teammate’s comments.

“Look, losing sucks period. For all my Korolev teammates, it’s been a hard adjustment for them in a new colony. They take losing hard and don’t feel like being out so it’s not like they are purposefully trying to insulate themselves from the Europa colony,” said Lehmann.

“I tell my teammates that Europa fans are complaining because they are passionate about sports just like they were with their MAFL team, Europa United. They gave it to them so that’s why they’re also giving it to us. I’d rather they say something than nothing because then, that means they don’t care. The best solution to this is just win.”

Regardless of how they feel, Khimik will be playing at their host colony, Europa. Stay tuned  next week as Khimik takes on the Cosmonauts on Taurus 15.

Moles shut down Khimik 2-0 at Marineris

Playing in front of their home crowd at Marineris, the Moles provided a balanced attack that blanked Khimik 2 – 0 and moved the Moles to the top of the standings alongside the Cosmonauts.

Despite Khimik having more scoring chances, goalie Sam Bailey was lights out again making 17 saves to record the shutout.  It was his first of the second exhibition round and so far in three matches, Bailey has a sparking goals against average (GAA) of 1.00.

“Bailey is our rock”, said Moles Captain Janice Campbell. “He led the first round with 3 shutouts, so we’re no stranger to his brilliance.”

Asked if he had extra motivation to shine in front of his home colony, Bailey replied, “Actually, I was a bit nervous in the home opener when we lost to the Cosmonauts. So this time, I was able to relax and just play my game. Also props to my teammates for their solid defense once again.”  

sam bailey snatches for a puck as he guards the net for the moles.

That defense was anchored by Kara Okeke, Vicky Li and Laura Hall as they fore-checked, trapped, and steered away a number of Khimik chances to support Bailey’s shutout.

The first goal of the game occurred at 7:28 of the first period as Hall drew two defenders her way and then spun around with a backhanded pass down towards a streaking Campbell for the breakaway. Campbell deked left and then shot right as goalie Veronica Danilenko was caught off guard.  

1 – 0 Moles.

The follow-up was delivered in the second period at 9:40 as Hall skated behind the Khimik net drawing attention from the defenders and then throwing it in front to a ready Campbell who fired the puck past Danilenko.

Moles 2 – Khimik 0.

And with a comfortable lead heading into the third period, the Moles, again, pulled together a brilliant defense to frustrate a pressing Khimik into three straight penalties. Khimik was forced to exhaust all their energy killing the penalties, leaving little else for offensive plays.

“Laura just makes it so easy for me. It’s like she has eyes in the back of her head,” said Campbell. “From her to Bailey’s brilliance to our defenders’ strong play, I’m really proud of everyone’s overall effort. Now we need to bring that against the Cosmonauts next week.”

And it was the Cosmonauts who handed the Moles their only loss in this second exhibition round – in Marineris no less!  Will the Fedin sisters shine again in their home rink at Noviymir? Or will the Dynamic Duo of Hall and Campbell prevail? We’ll find out next week.

Yanovna almost scores a hat trick, Khimik beats Cosmonauts 3-1 in Round 2

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Khimik takes the win in today’s in a 3-1 victory over the Cosmonauts. The two teams battled it out in Europa’s brand new rink in front of a sold-out audience.

Despite a strong offensive push by the Cosmonauts throughout the game, they were only able to get one shot past Khimik goalie, Veronica Danilenko.

Anna Fedin collected a loose puck that slipped past defenseman Rybar and put it high into the net to give Cosmonauts the lead in first period. That lead didn’t last long though.

Alex Yanovna stole the spotlight today with an unexpected play during a two-man advantage while the Cosmonauts were waiting out their double-penalty—scoring two consecutive goals in 4 minutes!

With Novak and Burien in the box and an extra Cosmonaut on the ice, Cosmonaut defender Rybar was able to slip down the left to feed a pass to Yanovna who fired a shot over Hansen’s shoulder

hundreds of fans look on today at europa's sold-out rink

“Alex really blew us away today,” says teammate, Ruslan Vasiliev, “even though he’s our captain, he usually takes a supporting role on the ice. But today he was so dynamic—I’d say he was the best player on the ice today.”

Yanovna flicked a wrist shot clean past Hansen’s left 4 minutes after his first goal.

Cosmonauts forward, Lawrence Miller, received medical attention today after an awkward landing sent him down hard at the end of first period. It’s uncertain exactly how extensive injuries to the 34-year-old Korolevian are, but medical staff have confirmed that his ribs have been fractured.

We can be sure that Miller will be out of the picture for a few weeks as he recovers.

Illya Hryc converted a play from the left circle into a goal-resulting breakaway, bringing the score to 3-1 for Khimik five minutes into second period.

Penalties were awarded to Andrej Petrovyh at 4:13 of the second period for cross checking to Ivan Vasiliev for highsticking at the end of the third period.

Cosmonauts were unable to take advantage of the penalty to close the gap in third period, closing game 2 of Exhibition Hockey Round 2 at Cosmonauts 1-Khimik-3.

Wildcards beat Khimik 2-1 in Europa Debut

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In front of a sold out Europa crowd, the Wildcards came in and beat Khimik 2 to 1, in the opening games of ISMO Exhibition Round 2

To the majority of fans in the new Europa rink, this was their first  experience of ISMO hockey as Exhibition Round 1 was not broadcast aside from news reports. The fan response was positive and enthusiastic.

“I loved it!”, said one fan. “I’m a football gal so I expected this to be somewhat like MAFL but the speed of this game—it felt much faster. Just wished we had won.”

Another fan chimed in after the game, “Some of the moves they did, like going up the ramps were cool. It didn’t always work but admired their guts in trying. I’ll be back to see more.”

And more chances they’ll get, as Round 2 will have five more weeks of play with two more games scheduled in Europa.

This suits Khimik’s new forward, Jessie Andersen (formerly from the Sands), just fine as she’s right at home in Europa.

“I’m really excited to play in front of my family and friends,” said Andersen of her new placement, “I know my new teammates are all from Korolev but I’m happy to show them what a great colony, Europa is.”

The first period saw no goals as both teams tested the waters.

Phan and Lehman celebrate after goal.

The stalemate was broken in second period by a beautiful goal from Lehmann (formerly of the Phantoms), who redirected a short pass from Phan to complete the play.

With less than a minute left before intermission, Phan set up another goal beautifully with a deft backdoor pass to Lindberg from the bottom of the right face-off circle. Lindberg tipped the puck in to give Wildcards a 2-0 lead.

The Europa crowd opened up the third period with a massive surge in support of Khimiks. They responded with a wave of aggressive plays and scoring chances until finally they broke through.

With less than ten minutes remaining in the game, Ilya Hryc narrowed the lead by one goal.  He took a centering feed from Ivashkin and beat Wildcards goalie, Jules Arquette, with a wrist shot to the blocker side.

Khimik aggressively pushed for the remainder of the game, trying to catch up to the Wildcards. But Andersen’s blast from the point clanged off the post wide, allowing the Wildcards to win narrowly with a 2-1 win.

“We’re fortunate to escape with the win,” said Wildcards Captain, Samuel Marquez. “We’re also fortunate for this next exhibition round as interest just keeps building. This new rink is fantastic, the ice was really good, and the fans were really into it today. Look forward to seeing how the other new colonies respond.”

Wildcards Dominate

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Lindberg celebrates after scoring a goal.

21 year old Carl Lindberg tipped the scales in overtime today to win the fourth game of the exhibition for the Wildcards. The youngest player on the Wildcards, Lindberg’s scoring record is not too shabby, but had been overshadowed by powerhouse Mateo Martinez.

“I’m ecstatic,” says an exuberant Lindberg, “this is like a dream come true for me. I gotta give credit where it’s due though—I couldn’t have done it without Tia’s assist.”

Korolev rink was rowdy today was fans waited out the first three periods without a single goal in sight. The energy must have spilled over onto the rink, because gameplay was rampant with aggression.

Amongst other penalties, Carl Lindberg (Wildcards) and Denis Ivashkin (Ivashkin) were sent to the box towards the end of the first period for a full out fight. What looked like a accidental elbow to the face turned ugly as Lindberg took offense, threw down his stick, and shoved Ivashkin to the ice. Fisticuffs quickly followed before the two players were pulled apart by their teammates.

Lindberg and Ivashkin throw punches before being separated and sent to the penalty box.

Rybar was also given two penalties, both on counts of cross-checking.

Khimik played hard and fast today in their attempt to pull ahead in the standings—firing on the Wildcard’s net almost twice as many times.

Wildcard’s goalie Jule Arquette kept Khimik at bay— stopping 21 shots, including a breakaway backhand from Vasiliev in second period.

Both Petrovyh (Khimik) and Phan (Wildcards) played some amazing defense today as they dominated their sides of the rink. Phan, especially doing a stand out job in stealing control of play whenever Khimik ventured over.

Despite Khimik’s best efforts, they were not able to break past the Wildcards defense and the game spilled into overtime with the game tied at 0 and 0.

Fans were finally released from their anguished anticipation as Halvorsen snapped a short pass to Lindberg for the deciding goal.

“Regardless of the results, we’re extremely proud of what we’ve accomplished. Think about it—it's our water extraction facilities in Korolev that gave birth to skating on Mars.  Now we give a glimpse at what could be a new sport.  We are proud” said Khimik captain, Alex Yanovna.

This game leaves Khimik tied with the Sands with one win apiece, while the Wildcards settle in behind the Moles.

Sands Go Down, Fighting

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Sand's goalie Priya Christensen and Captain Jared Foster - Despite lose their 5th in a row, they played their best match yet.

In a highly spirited match, Ruslan Vasiliev scored a hat trick to lead Khimik past the Sands 5 to 3 at Korolev.

With the win, Khimik moves to 3 and 2 and secure a spot in the 2nd stage exhibition that ISMO officials announced earlier in the week.

For the Sands, another loss, but it was their best performance yet.

Early in the game, it looked like the same old Sands.  Alex Yanovna easily netted Khimik's 1st goal from a bounce off the body of the Sands' Mitchell Cruz who was jockeying for net-front position. 

To the Sands' credit, they didn't fold. They responded at the 7 minute mark, and short-handed nonetheless. 

Khimik's power play unit fanned on a shot allowing the Sands' Jared Foster to take the puck and rush up ice and deliver a top shelf goal to tie up the game.  

The Sands continued to push and were eventually rewarded just 5 minutes later as Anthony Xin buried a rebound off an initial save by Khimik goalie Veronica Danilenko to give the Sands the lead 2 -1. 

As the 2nd period started, Khimik's Denis Ivashkin was tagged with a slashing penalty giving the Sands another opportunity, but despite some a few chances, the Sands were unable close the deal.

With just seconds left in that power play, Foster made a last ditch effort by boldly skating up the ramp before the Khimik blue line in an attempt to deliver an aerial pass to teammate, Jessie Andersen. 

Unfortunately, the pass failed to connect with Andersen's outreached stick and was picked up by Khimik's Andrej Petrovyh, as Foster made an awkward crash landing.  This gifted Kihimk with an odd person rush the other way that Ilya Hryc finished with a shot from the point to tie up the game 2-2. 

For the next seven minutes, both teams fought to get the go ahead goal until finally the Rusian Vasiliev show got underway.

At the 24th minute, the Sands' Eric Williams failed to clear the puck in front of the net, instead sending it right to Rusian Vasiliev for a shot past goalie Priya Christensen to put Khimik ahead. 

Just two minutes later, Vasiliev scored again on a redirect of an Andrej Petrovyh shot to make it 4-2. 

With less than a minute before the end of the 2nd period, Vasiliev completed his hat trick when he ripped a wrist shot from the top of the right circle through Christensen's legs to put Khimik up 5 - 2 over the Sands.

With a three goal lead to start the third period, Khimik played to protect the lead using strong puck movement to dominate time of possession which helped neutralize much of the Sands chances.  

At the 41st minute, the Sands finally found an opening as Xin's pass from behind the net found Andersen who banked it in past Veronica Danilenko to narrow the lead to two goals.  

With a few minutes remaining, the Sands deployed all three forwards at once in an attempt to tie up the game. This led to a mad scramble for the Sands.

With under two minutes left, it looked like the Sands would narrow the gap but a Foster shot from the slot rang off the post and that would be as close as the Sands would get. 

"They really pressed us hard at the end," said Khimik Captain Alex Yanovna. "Everyone keeps talking about how bad the Sands were but they were quite good today. If not for Ruslan's hat trick, the outcome may have been different."

"I'm proud of our effort today," said Sands Captain Mitchell Cruz. "We didn't give up and kept the game really close.  Next week will be the last exhibition game for us, so we plan to make the most of it."
 

Khimik - Checkmate

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Today’s 2 to 0 Khimik win over the Cosmonauts resembled, in many ways, a tightly contested chess match. This should come as no surprise for the two heavily rostered Russian teams.
 
The game was peppered with shrewd moves, crafty counters, and secure defence, which prevented very few openings—not unlike the many chess-match games we saw during the MAFL season.
 
While ISMO hockey and MAFL Football are similar in their use of chess-like strategies and tactics to generate openings, the pace of the matches are a sharp contrast.  they vary quite significantly in pace of match.
 
MAFL football have more stop and go motion, leading to more broken plays and turnovers. ISMO hockey is more fluid and distinctive in its smoother puck movement, transitions and longer possessions.
 
The unbroken plays of ISMO hockey naturally leads to more scoring chances. This has created an ever-changing dynamic between the defenders and forwards as they support their goalies in protecting the net. Suffice to say, this interplay is becoming one of the most exciting and defining aspects of ISMO hockey.
In today’s match, Khimik goalie, Veronica Danilenko, was shielded from 21 of the 27 shots the Cosmonauts attempted, by the coordinated efforts of the Khimik forwards and defenders. The Cosmonauts were equally focused on protection as their defenders and forwards blocked 28 shots.

The focus on keeping their goalies fresh, has enabled players to be more involved in the play—frequently making passes to start an offensive rush, something not so common in MAFL yet.  
Today’s game was also light on penalties, quite unlike the MAFL matches we’ve grown used to.
Without the luxury of numbers, penalties mean a razor-thin margin of error for the offending team. 

For a tense two periods, there were no mistakes as both teams countered each other’s offence and kept the scores at nil. Not until the third period did an opportunity present itself.

Khimik #50, Ruslan Vasiliev score twice in the 3rd to beat Cosmonauts 2-0.

Four minutes after the start of the third period, Khimik forward, Ruslan Vasiliev’s shot deflected off the well-intended stick of Cosmonauts’ defender Katy Fedin, and into the net for the game’s first goal!
 
Three minutes of scrambling back and forth. And Vasiliev scores again!
 
In his second goal of the game, Vasiliev redirected a long pass from Petrovyh, to bounce the puck off the skate of Cosmonaut defender Vitalia Bruian, and past Cosmonaut goalie Marius Hansen.
 
“We had very few chances as their whole team played solid defence,” said Cosmonauts’ Anna Fedin. 
 
Khimik goes to 2 and 2 with this win while the Cosmonauts drop to 2 and 2 with their loss.
 

The Game I Thought I Knew

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Even though hockey has, like most sports, diminished from its hey-days, I grew up in a hockey family back on Earth.  I played in a junior league before college until an injury started to steer me away from the game.  I was sure I severed all tied with it with when I decided to move to Mars, to a planet with no sports at all.  Yet, here we are.

Most of the young Martians I know have never heard of the game until now, not basic exposure via an Earth feed or game title.  They know little to nothing of the legendary superstars or the speed and physicality of the sport.  It was fast, furious, and heavy hitting.

Today, was my return to a game I thought I knew.  

Khimik takes to the ice.  The team was named after the Chemical Engineers that first starting recreational ice skating on the frozen water deposits north of Korolev.

The Phantoms played against Khimik at Korolev's K-Rink and I was going to give this new ISMO version a chance.  I always enjoyed the 3-on-3 element of hockey and with “Bigger rinks!” they promised, sounded convincing. With dramatically different physics and amateur players, however, I had reservations.

As I sat with 250 other curious attendees in the small seating area around the rink, everyone I talked to, agreed: "This is not your dad’s hockey."  

You would expect switching from Aero Football to the pace of hockey to be overwhelming, but even comparing it to tradition hockey, beyond the obvious differences with the rink, the key difference was the pacing.

I was amazed at how little stoppage there was. The circular ramps kept the puck in play and it was amusing (if not funny) to see the players attempt to navigate it. There were few penalties and rough-housing, but when players were sent to the penalty box, the effect of going one player down was massive.

At the start, it was back and forth action as teams traded chances off the rush.  Before, finally, a goal!  Khimik took the lead  7:51 in the first period. 

Khimik forward Ruslan Vasiliev evades Phantom defender Alex-Gaumond.

With these compact teams, players were forced to take on multiple roles throughout the game.  They morphed and evolved through the game as the captains, Jonathan Moore (Phantoms) and Alex Yanovna (Khimik) got creative. The Phantoms used all three of their 3 forwards late in the game on a power play while Khimik responded with 2 defenders to kill the penalty.

This all made for an amazing flow of action throughout the game. 

As the players flew by, so did the time. With 15 minute periods, before I knew it, the game was over and Khimik hung on to narrowly escape a Phantoms come-back, and win the game 3 to 2.

I was pleasantly surprised by today's match.  This kind of hockey builds on familiar roots while  introducing appropriate derivations that for Martian conditions and tastes.  Putting my fondness of the sport aside, ISMO has been transparent about the experimental nature of sport, so if you come into a game with an open mind and with the right expectations with respect to the players' skill level, there is a lot to enjoy.

Ruslan Vasiliev is the lead scorer for Khimik adds 1 more goal bringing his total to 4 in the last 3 games.

ISMO Hockey Roundup

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Fredrick Mattila, of the Moles.

ISMO concluded their first ambitious weekend of ice hockey in the 3 Northern settlements.  With each matchup a 'double header' seeing the paired teams repeat play on Saturni and Solis, the games delivered a taste for the new sport.

The small seating capacity at the prototype rinks ensured a sell-out crowd for the opening weekend.  Largely reserved for media, partners friends, and family, the audiences were enthusiastic and generally encouraging toward the amateur players.

Mareotis

The Cosmonauts delivered a convincing win over the Phantoms in game 1 at Mareotis.  Despite outshooting the Cosmonauts 30 to 20, the Phantoms were only able to beat goaltender Marius Hansen once after a wild scramble in front of the net allowing #75 Peter Lehmann to sneak the puck past him. 

Otherwise, the game was almost entirely carried on the shoulders of Anna Fedin, captain of the Cosmonauts, who netted a hat-trick and an assist.  Vitalia Burian also scored late in the 3rd period to make it a 4-1 game.

Early in game 2, it looked as though the Cosmonauts would repeat the prior day's victory. Goals by Anna Fedin and Yaro Novak allowed them to take an early lead.

The Phantoms held the Cosmonauts off during the 2nd period and closed the gap to 1 after a point shot by Jonathan Moore beat Hansen.

Phantom defenceman Alex Gaumond got the equalizer in the 1st minute of the 3rd period.   

The go-ahead goal came after Peter Lehmann was fed on the wing by Gaumond and snapping a powerful shot Hansen's open side.

Lehmann would add an insurance goal 6 minutes later, ending the game 4-2.

"It was a great start," said Anna Fedin who had a total of 4 goals over the two games, "It is an entirely different game compared with practise games.  We would have liked to sweep the series, but we are not disappointed in our performance as a team."

Noviymir

It was a sleepy start in Noviymir as the Moles and Khimik fumbled for much of game 1.  In fact, both teams looked rather scared at the onset.  There were long stretches of slow, aimless passing mixed in with other cringe-worthy moments.

The first goal by Ruslan Vasiliev in the 2nd period wasn't pretty.  He fanned his shot, slipped, fell, and yet somehow unintentionally got the puck passed Moles goaltender Sam Bailey. 

The following goal by defenceman Andrej Petrovyh was more convincing.  A wrist shot up as Bailey went down gave Khimik a 2-0 lead.

The Moles would eventually get one back in the final minutes of the 2nd period, ending the match with a 2-1 score.

Fortunately for the spectators, the pace of game 2 did not resemble the awkward and sluggish play of the opening game.  

According to Janice Campbell, captain of the Moles, "We psyched ourselves out and, as as result, it wasn't the game we wanted to play.  Today, we promised to play for ourselves and it made a huge difference."

Through much of the game, the Moles were in lock-step with Khimik.  Fredrick Mattila would counter goals by Alex Yanovna and Ruslan Vasiliev to earn a hat-trick and end regular time at 3-3. 

It would be Campbell to score 6 minutes into overtime for the Moles win 4-3.

Korolev

Unlike the Noviymir games, the Sands were heavily outmatched against the Wildcards as they played at the K-rink. Mateo Martinez singled handed scored 11 goals, 7 on Saturni and 4 more on Solis.  

"We were obviously outclassed by the Wildcards," said Sands captain, Mitchell Cruz, "I think we are all new at this, so we'll take this as a learning experience and come back harder next week.

After this weekend's display, the Sands have an obvious skill deficit.  The 5 week round-robin schedule is unlikely to provide the adequate time to further development of skills or team chemistry, so the Sands may endure further humiliation before the exhibition series is complete.

Next Week

Starting next weekend, teams will play just one match a piece.  

Moles will face the Wildcards in Mareotis; Sands will visit Noviymir to take on the Cosmonauts; and the Phantoms will make the trek to tackle Khimik.