Botany Swarm v Southern Stampede
Sunday 10th August, Botany, Auckland
Final |
| 1 | 2 | 3 | T |
 | Botany Swarm | 4 | 0 | 3 | 7 |
| Southern Stampede | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
The Swarm blew an opportunity to clinch a home final on Sunday evening when they went down 4-7 to the Southern Stampede, losing for the first time all year in their final regular season game.
The Stampede took full advantage of a slow and sloppy first period by the Swarm. After 13 minutes of the game the Stampede had racked up 4 unanswered goals, 2 each to Ice Blacks Brett Speirs and Stacey Rout. Swarm goalie Kane Easterbrook, who was starting just his second game all season, was pulled after letting in 3 goals in 10 minutes, including clearing a rebound to an open Speirs for the easiest of goals for his second. Even with Zak Nothling replacing Easterbrook the Stampede didn’t stop there, posting their 4th while a man down.
At 0-4 down the Swarm finally started to pick up their game, eventually out shooting the Stampede in the period 14-11 and scoring 2 goals in the last two minutes to Ian Wannamaker and Andy Hay.
The Swarm continued to dominate in the second period controlling the flow of the game and creating plenty of scoring opportunities. However they could only put one Josh Hay goal past Stampede goalie Stephan Reid in 18 shots.
During the third period intermission, it was announced that the Canterbury Red Devils had been upset by wooden spooners, the Dunedin Thunder 6-3. That meant that the Swarm needed to win or draw the game to host the 2008 NZIHL final.
The urgency in the Swarm picked up another notch as they battled for the tying goal. 7 minutes into the period it came, as Adam Carlzon roofed a shot over Reid’s glove as he flew in from the right wing. However the celebration was short lived, 3 minutes later while on the powerplay Braden Lee put the Stampede back on top after a goalmouth scramble.
The Swarm pushed hard and tried in vein to re-gain the lead, however it was too little too late. Their all out attack, led to the Stampede clinching 2 more late goals to Moritz Kraus and Brett Speirs’ 3rd.
The Swarm will be rueing their early effort as in the end it cost them a home final. So in the wash up, the NZIHL is set for Christchurch on 30th August Swarm v Red Devils.
| Scoring Summary | ||||
1st Period Scoring | Team | Goal Scorer | Assit | Assit |
14:08 | STP | Stacey Rout | Gavin Tout | |
13:39 | STP | Brett Speirs | ||
11:10 | STP | Brett Speirs | Simon Glass | |
7:12 | STP | Stacey Rout (SH) | Ryan Lee | |
2:35 | BSW | Ian Wannamaker | Josh Hay | |
0:26 | BSW | Andy Hay (PP) | Ian Wannamaker | Josh Hay |
2nd Period Scoring | ||||
11:12 | BSW | Josh Hay | Ian Wannamaker | Andrew Bourne |
3rd Period Scoring | ||||
13:29 | BSW | Adam Carlzon | Andy Hay | |
10:23 | STP | Braden Lee (PP) | Ryan Lee | Hayden Argyle |
5:22 | STP | Moritz Kraus | Brett Speirs | Bert Haines |
0:25 | STP | Brett Speirs |
Shots: Botany Swarm 41, Southern Stampede 36
BSW - Botany Swarm
STP - Southern Stampede