TRADE-MART DUNDEE STARS 4 SHEFFIELD STEELERS 10
The Trade-Mart Dundee Stars were short on bodies and short on luck as the Sheffield Steelers dealt the Taysiders a heavy defeat on Sunday night at the DIA.
By Kris Smith
The Stars would fall behind just 28 seconds into the match as the visitors came forward through Mark Simpson and whilst his shot would be saved by goalkeeper Richard Sabol, the rebound would bounce off the skate of Stars defender, Drydn Dow and into the back of his own net.
Although, Spencer Naas would then pull the home team back onto even terms as he fired past Matthew Greenfield from the left flank on five minutes but Steelers did not plan on being level for long.
Just 42 seconds later, Marc-Olivier Vallerand would intercept a puck deep in the Dundee zone and he quickly spun before putting a shot on net, that beat Sabol high at his near post.
In the 12th minute, Mikko Juusola would then make a quick move from a face-off in Stars end as Patrick Watling won possession and Juusola skated onto the puck before finding the top corner of Sabol’s goal.
Then on 13 minutes, Colton Saucerman would smack Dominic Cormier’s pass into the top corner of the Stars goal to move Aaron Fox’s side 4-1 in front but Dundee would hit back to reduce the lead to two-goals before the end of the first period as Brendan Harms tucked home a loose puck.
In the second session, the Yorkshire club would be first on the scoresheet again as Brian Diffley would take a drop pass from Juusola and fire over Sabol’s shoulder on 25 minutes.
Keanu Yamamoto would then pull Dundee back to within two goals once again as he skated the puck around Greenfield, inside 32 minutes but Sheffield responded just five minutes later with Brandon Whistle tapping in Daniel Ciampini’s pass to the back post.
Heading to the third, the English outfit were 6-3 in front and four minutes into the final period, they extended their lead to four goals as Mark Simpson lifted the puck past Sabol from close range in the 45th minute.
The first powerplay of the game then went in favour of Sheffield as Dundee’s Zach Tsekos was boxed for slashing and that allowed Juusola to net his second of the night inside 49 minutes.
Juusola was then given the chance to complete his hat-trick as he was awarded a penalty shot in the 54th minute when Yamamoto hooked the Sheffield forward after he got in behind the Dundee defence.
Juusola would slip the puck past Sabol to make it 9-3 and a few moments later, it was then the turn of Marc LeFebvre’s powerplay unit to have their first opportunity on the man advantage as Sheffield’s Samuel Tremblay was penalised for hooking.
On the powerplay, the Stars would add their fourth goal of the night inside 56 minutes as Philippe Sanche found Tsekos in the slot and he beat netminder Marco De Filippo, who had entered the game when the Steelers went 8-3 ahead.
Tremblay then made up for his penalty as he shot home Sheffield’s 10th goal of the night on 57 minutes and that would bring Sabol’s game to the end as he left the ice and was replaced by Jarrett Fiske in the Dundee goal.
The struggling Stars were left pointless over the weekend but do not get any respite as they now face Manchester Storm twice in their next two games, starting Wednesday night in Altrincham.
Man of the Match
Dundee: #17 Zach Tsekos
Sheffield: #23 Colton Saucerman
Goals
1st:
0-1 Mark Simpson (Unassisted) 00:28
1-1 Spencer Naas (Brendan Harms, Drydn Dow) 05:04
1-2 Marc-Olivier Vallerand (Unassisted) 05:46
1-3 Mikko Juusola (Patrick Watling) 11:31
1-4 Colton Saucerman (Dominic Cormier, Daniel Ciampini) 13:19
2-4 Brendan Harms (Zach Tsekos, Drydn Dow) 19:08
2nd:
2-5 Brian Diffley (Mikko Juusola, Mitchell Balmas) 25:52
3-5 Keanu Yamamoto (Philippe Sanche, Drydn Dow) 31:04
3-6 Brandon Whistle (Daniel Ciampini, Colton Saucerman) 36:57
3rd:
3-7 Mark Simpson (Brandon Whistle, Brian Diffley) 44:50
3-8 Mikko Juusola (Mitchell Balmas, Daniel Ciampini) 48:56 PPG
3-9 Mikko Juusola (Unassisted) 53:07 PS
4-9 Zach Tsekos (Philippe Sanche, Spencer Naas) 55:49
4-10 Samuel Tremblay (Finlay Ulrick) 57:14
All images: Derek Black.
