Cardiff Advance to POFW25
Devils 8-3 Blaze
An exciting start to the second leg of the Coventry vs Cardiff quarterfinals saw Coventry’s Jackson Cressey pull off a slick goal after intercepting a puck and getting the puck past Ben Bowns only 1:42 into the period.
Soon after, at the 14:25 mark, Morten Jurgens got Blaze fans on their feet after he managed to find the back of the net, finding Coventry their second goal of the night, ultimately equalising the goal aggregate.
However, in only 24 seconds, Cardiff responded with their first goal of the night at 14:49 thanks to Brad Schoonbaert pulling off a snipe on net.
As the first period closed out, Coventry were gifted a shootout opportunity due to interference in a 1-on-1 breakaway. Fortunately, Ben Bowns was able to keep his composure and deny an aggregate equalising goal.
Another early goal going the way of Coventry as the teams entered the second period after Alessio Luciani tied the aggregate once more at 21:22. Tension was clearly seen on the ice as the teams went back and forth with many agressive exchanges through the period with both teams giving clearly giving their all. Fortunately for the home team, Ryan Barrow was able to convert a goalscoring opportunity after an assisting pass from Brad Schoonbaert at 32:26. This placed Cardiff back in the lead in terms of goal aggregate as the period closed out.
The final period at the Vindico saw Cardiff take complete control of the game, unleashing a barrage of attacking opportunities on to Mat Robson. The third goal in Cardiff’s night came in the form of Cole Sanford who fired a puck into the back of Coventry’s net at 44:31. This set the tone for the rest of the period which saw the Devils run away with the aggregate after Sam Duggan (47:15), Zach O’Brien (47:45) and Joey Martin (57:21) all found themselves on the scoreboard. As the buzzer counted the final seconds on the clock, the home crowd erupted with cheers, knowing that the Devils had taken the quarter-final games with an 8-3 aggregate.
The Devils will now go up against the Belfast Giants in a semi-final matchup during the Playoffs Final Weekend in Nottingham’s National Ice Centre.
