Saturday, 13 March 2010

Lee Valley Arena, London – The Oxford Blues sent a clear signal to the Northern Conference that they will not give up their national champion status lightly, following a solid 4-1 upset over the number one seed London Dragons in the BUIHA semi-final.

The Blues rode into town having split their previous two games against the Dragons, and in victory put on their most convincing performance of the season. ‘It was the best match I’ve seen us play – period’ said team captain Ruben Leavitt. ‘All three lines adhered to the defensive ethos we'd been cultivating all season and contributed to a solid performance. A good defence proved to be a good offense, as we capitalized on London's defensive mistakes and turnovers and made them pay on the scoreboard. That was the ticket to victory’, he added.

The first period was a tightly fought affair, with the teams exchanging a number of good chances. Oxford’s Calum Nicholson was forced to make several important saves to protect the 1-0 lead that the team took early in the game on an impressive solo effort down the left wing from Landis Stankievech, who handcuffed London goalie Rish Handa with a high wrist shot to the short side.  Handa, coming off a solid season, recovered to make some excellent saves, allowing London to claw back to a 1-1 tie at the end of twenty minutes, following a rare Oxford turnover in the defensive zone which led to a wrap-around goal for the home team.

The second period saw the visitors take advantage of a lacklustre London defence and score three times, with Parker Carney picking up the go-ahead goal. It was all Oxford would need, as solid defensive play and strong goaltending kept the score at 4-1 until the final buzzer. Stankievech and Carney each had two goals, and goaltender Nicholson was named man of the match.

With the win, and for the second consecutive season, Oxford progress to the National Championship, where they will face off against the best team in the BUIHA Northern Conference at the Sheffield Arena on 17 April. With the team firing on all cylinders in two impressive playoff performances, they have reason to be confident.

Calum TM Nicholson