Ellie-Marie Watts

This weekend the North Stars-Sirens are taking to the skies as they travel to meet the Goanna’s in Brisbane to play their second round of games in the AWIHL season.

The Sydney Sirens team who moved to Newcastle this year debuted their season as the North Stars-Sirens the weekend of October 22. The team went up against the 2011 AWIHL Champions, the Melbourne Ice. The game on Saturday resulted in a marginal 1-0 loss for the Sirens, reflecting how tight the game was throughout all three periods.

The winning goal for the Ice came from an unlucky backdoor goal in the second period. “The girls missed a couple of key chances to tie up and even the game, but they played their hearts out with such determination,” said Coach Andrew Reynolds. “It was a great performance by both teams.” The Sirens came out hungry for the win on Sunday but it wasn’t until the second period that they were able to put points on the board.

Rachael White scored first from Sami Lai after battling it out in front of the net. After a waved off goal for Amelia Matheson, the Sirens recovered and were able to score once again to lead 2-0. The Ice retaliated with their only goal of the game after an admitted bad line change from the Sirens.

The Sirens third goal by Sharna Godfrey came from a backhanded shot into the top right corner of the Melbourne’s net, sealing the game with a 3-1 win. “I don’t think many people were expecting us to play so well, considering we’ve lost a couple of key players, and we still use no imports,” said goaltender Sera Dogramaci.

“We’ve had a bit of a disjointed preparation, so hopefully over the next few training sessions we’ll be able to work on those systems and plays that work for us.” Coach Mark Stephenson said he was “very happy” that the Sirens were able to split the weekend with the Melbourne Ice and said he is hoping the Sirens do better in Brisbane.

The Sirens management are quietly confident that the team will do well in Queensland, taking the drill and plays they have been working on out onto the ice. Coach Reynolds said the team is “pretty confident” and are excited for their first road trip of the season.