In their first home game since 1 February 2014, fourth placed Guildford Lightning faced top of the table Bracknell Queen Bees in this Elite Cup encounter at Guildford Spectrum. The game was closely fought and although the Lightning may have failed to get over the line, it did at least see the return of Louise Adams.
It was a great game and both teams played very well, but the superior strength of the league leaders shone through eventually. Bracknell were already 0-1 up in the very first few minutes of the game, thanks to a strike from Jess Curtis and the Lightning struggled to get back level on the score sheet after that.
The Queen Bees took a 2-0 lead at the halfway point of the game before Guildford’s Kirsty Lake scored the first goal of the game for the home team in the second period. In the final third, Guildford were 1-3 down before Lake scored her second of the game minutes from time to earn herself a brace, despite it not being enough for the home team to clinch victory.
The final score was thus Guildford 2 – Bracknell 3 and so the two points from this Cup game were taken back to Bracknell’s end of the A322. However, Guildford shouldn’t feel too disheartened as they put up a great fight, despite having all of the following players missing: Alex Von Haselberg, Amy Lack, Alexandra Ronai, Laura Price, Anna-Marie Baisden and Laura Foot.
It was good to see some new faces supporting women’s ice hockey this weekend, although it would have been better to see more Guildford Flames fans at the game as well. In the more popular men’s game, the National Ice Hockey League (NIHL), English Premier League (EPL) and Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL) teams will be going on their summer break soon. If you cannot wait for the new season to start once this one is over, how about heading to Guildford Spectrum to watch your local women’s team play instead?
If you are sitting there thinking ‘women’s ice hockey runs until April as well’ whilst reading this, you are wrong, it actually runs until May! So if you enjoyed watching some of the women’s ice hockey during the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics recently, perhaps it is time you get down to your local ice rink to watch a game for yourself.
Finally, welcome back to Spectrum Ice Louise Adams!
Daniella West