The Invicta Dynamos took the Chelmsford Chieftains through regular time, overtime and penalty shots before finally losing out in sudden death penalty shots against the Essex outfit in an excellent team display on Sunday.
The Mos came into the tie with a team of 13 and faced up against a Chelmsford side with a squad of 19. Ben Clements and Luca Tessadri were the starting netminders.
In the opening period the short benched Mos offered more in front of net – Luca Tessadri facing 14 shots with Ben Clements needed to stop 9. Samuel Austin went to the box for hooking at 14.03 and the visitors took advantage at 14.17 – Anthony Leone teeing up Juraj Huska for the opening goal of the night to make it 1-0. Soon after the goal tensions then flared as Brandon Webster and Julian Smith ditched the gloves for a bout that saw both dispatched to the box for five minutes.
In the second period the teams traded chances until the Mos claimed the second of the night at 32.10 – Juraj Huska and Richard Harris were involved in the build-up before Brandon Webster converted to stretch the lead to 2-0. The gloves then came off for the second time at 38.00 – this time Henry Aiken and Kieran Raynor opting to trade blows with Aiken arguably landing more blows before the scrap was halted by the officials. When the action restarted Chelmsford claimed their first of the night – Cameron Bartlett and Ethan Reid involved before James Pentecost beat Ben Clements to make it 2-1.
In the final period the Chieftains completed their comeback at 45.35 – Christopher Beckett teeing up Ethan Reid for the equaliser that left everything to play for and the score at 2-2. Despite the setback the Mos were next on the board at 48.21 – Juraj Huska and Richard Harris again claiming assists as Anthony Leone netted his fifth of the weekend for the 3-2 lead. Unfortunately they were unable to hold on – a tripping minor on Leone allowing the hosts the space for Michal Korenko and James Ayling to combine before James Pentecost tallied his second of the night to make it 3-3.
It was to overtime and then penalty shots for the two teams that could not be split and each side failed to score their opening three attempts. When Juraj Huska was then unable to convert with the fourth the Chieftains made theirs count to claim the dramatic win. But a 4-3 defeat still secured a point for the Mos who had put in a fantastic team display to stay with the Chieftains for the entirety of the game. Ben Clements had a standout night in net for the away side who will now go into the final game of the regular season and the playoffs with a much needed confidence boost.