Invicta Dynamos last game in the English Challenge Cup resulted in an away defeat by EPL side Milton Keynes Lightning ahead of another crucial league game on Sunday against the London Raiders.
Billy and Charlie Phillips both returned to the roster after serving bans, whilst Andy Smith returned from illness to play is 400th game for the club. Juraj Huska, Grant Baxter and Mark Lee played no part in the fixture.
Lewis Hook put MK ahead on just 31 seconds as he combined with Jordan Cownie and Blaz Emersic to send the large home crowd into delight. Charlie Phillips had a great opportunity to level the scores on 03:30 but pulled his shot wide after being found in a good position by Andy Smith.
Invicta’s Dan Terry took a nasty check from MK’s Chris Wiggins on 07:38 which went unpunished as the Dynamos continued the quest to level the scores. Arran Strawson and Harrison Lillis both tested Jordan Hedley from distance before MK’s Lewis Christie received a two minute penalty for high sticks. The Dynamos pressed for the equaliser during the powerplay but were caught out by Blaz Emersic finding Lewis Hook to put MK two goals to the good and score a shorthanded goal on 12:39.
Andy Smith almost made it point 994 on 13:28 as he followed-up a Billy Phillips slap shot, however both Smith and Phillips found Jordan Hedley in good form in the MK net. Connor Goode made it three nil on 14:36 and four minutes later Jordan Cownie made it four nil to give MK a heathy lead at the end of the first period.
Blaz Emersic and Lewis Christie both hit the Invicta goal frame early in the second period before Lewis Hook fired past Steve Nightingale to claim his hat-trick on 30:12 to bring-up MK’s fifth goal. That was to be the last bit of action seen by Steve Nightingale in the Dynamos goal as he was replaced by Aaron Craft as the teams lined-up to face-off.
Arran Strawson’s long wait for his first goal of the season finally came on 32:24 as his long range shot from the attacking blue line flew past Jordan Hedley. Assists for the goal came from Michal Oravec and Andy Smith, putting Smith on 995 career points.
Ross Bowers hit the Dynamos goal frame on 33:41 as MK turned on the pressure. Leigh Jamieson made Dynamos pay for not clearing their lines on 35:03 and 36:04 as he claimed two goals in 61 seconds to bring the score line to 7-1.
Lewis Hook got is fourth goal of the night on 41:39 when he prodded the puck past Craft to score unassisted. Charlie Phillips, Andy Smith and Michal Oravec all tested Jordan Hedley before Christopher Wiggins put MK 8-1 up, however Oravec finally got reward for constant hard work throughout the game. Arran Strawson found the Slovakian forward who skated through a couple of bodies and beat Hedley in style on 58:03.
Blaz Emersic brought-up MK’s tenth and final goal on 58:16 to finish the result at 10-2. Michal Oravec claimed the man of the match awards for an Invicta Dynamos team that will be looking to bounce back on Sunday in their quest for league glory. Lewis Hook claimed the man of the match awards for the hosts after scoring four goals and claiming one assist.