Quartets from Nicky Lewis and Justin Noble, alongside a hat-trick from Peter Vaisanen and efforts from Joe Bliss (2), Arran Strawson and Callum Fowler, saw the Dynamos hammer the Oxford City Stars 15-1 on Saturday to keep them top of their NIHL Southern Cup group.
Having lost out to the Dynamos 11-2 on home ice earlier this season, Oxford were already facing an uphill battle in their latest cup match but the absence of a number of their experienced Stars only made the task much more difficult. As a result, despite the hosts being short of Adam Copland, Andy Smith, Anthony Leone, Harrison Lillis and Glen Jackson themselves, what followed in the opening frame was almost one way traffic.
The deadlock would be broken in the third minute of play – Justin Noble outpacing his marker down the right channel before darting towards goal, skating across the crease and sweeping inside the left post to make it 1-0. A hooking minor to Jonathan Bayliss then gave the Dynamos the chance to double their edge – Peter Vaisanen found by the right stick and firing through netminder Andrew Peterson who originally look to have had it covered.
The strike was followed by ten minutes of dogged resistance from the Stars but their youthful exuberance was not enough to keep the hosts at bay for the remainder of the frame as Justin Noble notched twice in 40 seconds to complete his hat-trick. The first of his late double came when Callum Best’s shot was parried by Andrew Peterson and the Canadian was on hand to bat home the rebound in midair from point blank range. The second was then provided by an excellent breakout pass from Tyrone Miller that set Noble in behind and the ‘import’ forward skated in from the wing and slotted low beyond the netminder to make it 4-0.
After an opening frame in which Oxford’s high work rate had prevented them from falling even further behind, the visiting Stars looked largely disorientated at the start of the second as the Dynamos netted six times in the first ten minutes. The first of these came when Peter Vaisanen’s pass in from the left found Nicky Lewis the other side of the target – the Welsh skater firing in quickly on the backhand whilst Andrew Peterson was still shifting across his crease. Having been teed up by his Canadian teammate, Lewis then returned the favour for Vaisanen as his effort from close right rebounded to the ‘import’ forward – Vaisanen left with the easiest of finishes on the back post to make it 6-0.
A seventh would inevitably follow and this time it was the Dynamos’ other representative from North America as Justin Noble took his tally to four with a carbon copy of his first – escaping the Oxford defence on the right side of the blue line, swinging in from the channel and tucking inside the far post having skated across the crease. Next up, Callum Fowler added his name to the score sheet as his mishit slapshot from between the faceoff circles still managed to elude outstretched leg of netminder Andrew Peterson and trickled teasingly over the line to make it 8-0. Just before the midway point, it was then nine as a 2-on-1 counter saw Justin Noble carry the play into the final third and his centring pass from the right boards was swept into the top left corner of the net by the on-rushing Joe Bliss.
Not content with one, the former Guildford junior then claimed his second 30 seconds later when Tyrone Miller set him through on the breakaway. Though Bliss’ attempts to quickly stick shift in front of net saw him lose control, it was enough to bamboozle netminder Andrew Peterson with the puck slipping through the five-hole to put the Dynamos into double figures. This prompted a change of netminder for the Stars – Ricky Young taking to the ice – but the replacement would be beaten twice before the period was out. Callum Fowler’s effort from close right was blocked by the goalie but dropped perfectly for Nicky Lewis on the back stick to make it 11-0. It was then a hat-trick for the Welshman soon after, as he again capitalised on a saved Fowler effort, and was able to roof the puck over Ricky Young from close range to end the period with his side 12-0 up.
Despite their huge deficit on the scoreboard, Oxford came out stronger in the last and made the better start – Nick Oliver coming close to breaking the deadlock but his follow-up shot flying just inches over the bar. The Dynamos were keen to add to their tally though and, six minutes in, they claimed their thirteenth of the night. Arran Strawson looked every part the forward as he skipped inside his man from the left boards and then shifted the puck quickly three times in front of net before tucking beyond Andrew Peterson – Peterson having returned to netminding duties at the beginning of the final period. Less than a minute later it was then 14-0 as a neat interchange of passes ended with Callum Fowler finding Nicky Lewis close left – the skater putting away his fourth of the night with a wrister that slotted low into the far corner.
Two more goals would then follow before the night was out but, to the delight of the small but noisy travelling band of Oxford supporters, the next was claimed by the Stars. Darren Edwards saw his drive from wide left blocked by David Wride but the netminder had no time to respond to James Clarke’s follow up and saw his shutout taken from him by the 39 year old veteran. The disappointment of losing the clean sheet spurred the Dynamos on to claim one more – a tripping minor on Stuart Widdows allowing Peter Vaisanen the space to circle in from the left side and scoop into the top left corner of the net from left of the target on the backhand to finish the tie 15-1.
So it was a resounding win for the hosts who, in truth, were able to cruise to victory against a very young and inexperienced Oxford side. To their credit, the Stars put in the work from puck drop to final buzzer regardless of the one sided score line but the Dynamos just had far too much for their Division 2 opponents. Man of the match awards on the night went to four goal hero Nicky Lewis of the home side, who doubled his goals tally for the season in just one evening, whilst captain Nick Oliver took the spoils for Oxford.
Picture supplied by David Trevallion