Coach’s Report: Coach Tamra Jones

The Goannas competed in Round 2 of the AWIHL November 6^th & 7th. In the 1st period of Game #1, Saturday evening, the team let up an easy goal @ 16.50 before finding their focus. They showed signs of being more comfortable with one another’s positioning on the ice producing some close offensive chances but were unable to finish. Kristy Bruske made some outstanding saves as well to keep the Sirens off the scoreboard until 2.58. The Goannas lost focus again allowing a late goal with 1.15 minutes left in the period.  The first 12 minutes of the 2nd was a back and forth battle with more amazing saves from star goalie Kristy Bruske keeping the Goannas in the game. The players worked hard killing off 8 penalty minutes during the period but disappointingly, performance from the players significantly diminished near the end of the period with the Sirens racking up 4 goals @ 5.52, 4.42, 0.52 (Power Play) and 0.19 respectively climbing their lead to 7-0. In the 3rd period, the Sirens were held to 1 goal with the Goannas showing some competitiveness. The 3rd period goaltender swap provided Hayley White with an opportunity to make some great saves between the pipes which she took advantage of making 21 saves before the Sirens scored @ 1.21 capping the Sirens victory to 8-0.

Game #2, Sunday morning started the same with the starting line lacking focus out of the gate allowing a goal @ 16.37.  The Sirens scored a power play goal @ 12.41 and shortly after climbed their lead to 3-0 @ 10.50. Overall team defence was strong, limiting the Sirens to 14 shots in the period. The battle continued in the 2nd period with both teams being assessed 8 penalty minutes each. Once again Kristy Bruske kept the Goannas in the game making 23 saves before letting in 1 goal @ 3.14. The Goannas played with tremendous heart in the 3rd period battling in both ends of the ice but were unable to capitalize on their scoring opportunities to get on the board. The Goannas managed to kill off 6 other penalty minutes during the 3rd but allowed 2 power play goals at @ 13.02 and 2.46 respectively.

As the Coach of the Goannas, it is evident that the players are continuing to grow and buy into team concepts, building confidence for the future series. Special mention to ‘Players of the Game’ stellar performances from Rachel Argall (Game #1) who played great 2-way hockey and Jemma Wallace who played a tremendous 3rd period displaying her strong leadership qualities on and off the ice (Game #2).  Tess Reilly, Meghan de Jong, Emily Baker-King and Hayley White also all put in strong performances over the weekend.

Stay tuned for more action in 2 weeks (Nov 27th & 28th) in Brisbane at the Acacia Ice Arena. We hope you make the effort to be part of the Movember Series. For more information or stats from the AWIHL Round 2 Series, check out the Pointstreak website. For more information about to how to join the Goannas support Movember, check out the Goannas website.