clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

AIHL Week 5 Review: North Stars perfect, but Mustangs struggles continue.

It really is a Tale Of Two Cities for SCOC's AIHL teams - Newcastle are flying, but Melbourne Mustangs are still looking for a way out of the early season doldrums.

By pucktistic

The AIHL is now well into its stride - in fact almost a third of the way through its 28-game season already, and while one Chowder team is continuing to roll on and gain momentum, the other is still struggling.

The Melbourne Mustangs had a winless week, as a Thursday night live game against cross-city rivals the Melbourne Ice saw a painful 7-2 loss for the Mustangs, with Joey Hughes continuing to haunt his former team with early goals and Jamie Bourke continuing to continue his scoring run in vain for the Mustangs.

On Sunday the 'Stangs took a 4-1 lead against the Sydney Ice Dogs, then conceded five goals in the third period in a dramatic reversal to finally lose 6-4.

Meanwhile, the Newcastle North Stars had the exact opposite weekend...an absolute bumper goalscoring run which saw them score 13 goals in 2 games as they first beat the Sydney Bears away from home 6-4 before running an absolute comeback masterclass against (Second City Hockey's) CBR Brave, going 2-0 down before scoring 7 unanswered goals, including one from none other than one of Chowder's favourites, John F. Kennedy Jr. You can watch the game in full below, should you be so inclined (you'll want to see JFK's goal, by the way...it's a lovely one)

This win ensured the North Stars remained in 3rd place in the AIHL ladder (with the top 4 teams going through to the Goodall Cup Finals weekend, it's good to see them making a run to pull away from the rest of the pack, though (PPP's) Perth Thunder are just above them along with the unbeaten Melbourne Ice heading the table.

Elsewhere in the AIHL, as previously mentioned, the Melbourne Ice continued their blistering form, beating the Sydney Ice Dogs 3-1, while the Perth Thunder took a double victory against the dangerous-looking Adelaide Adrenaline - a pair of one-goal victories mean that the Thunder now consolidate their position as closest challengers to the North Stars.

RESULTS

THURSDAY:

Melbourne Mustangs 2, Melbourne Ice 7

SATURDAY

Newcastle North Stars 6, Sydney Bears 4

Sydney Ice Dogs 1, Melbourne Ice 3

Perth Thunder 3, Adelaide Adrenaline 2

SUNDAY

CBR Brave 2, Newcastle North Stars 7

Sydney Ice Dogs 6, Melbourne Mustangs 4

Perth Thunder 4, Adelaide Adrenaline 3