This Sunday evening sees a second game take place. Sunday night at 9:30 p.m. the Dundalk Bulls Ladies take on the Latvian Hawks ‘B’ in the IIHL Development Division. This game was postponed from Saturday 9th of February. Last time these 2 teams met, the Hawks ‘B’ ran out 13-2 winners rather easily. They dominated the play and most of the game was spent in either the neutral zone or the Ladies defensive zone. However, they did credit themselves very well as the 3rd period finished level in scoring with both teams getting 2 goals each.
This game may be a lot tougher for the Hawks though. Last time round, Seanna Conway wasn’t in nets for the Ladies. Conway has the ability to win the game on her own for her team. However, she won’t have to as the Ladies have gained some more players who hail from abroad and give the Ladies a better chance in games. New players like Dagmar Palascakova help present players like Hanna Laatio and Elaine McCann in strengthening up the Defence. While Gabbi Vlasankova helps in the attack along with Celia Robillard and Lorna Hoey. However, the most impressive thing about the Ladies’ team is their continued growth. The majority of their team are playing less than a year and as a result of playing with more experienced players like Palascakova and Vlasankova, they are improving and gaining vast amounts of experience. This along with some very good coaching under an experienced hockey player like current Dundalk Bulls’ player, Vytautas Lukosevicious, as well as Dublin Rams’ goalkeeper, Sean Gibson, is helping them to improve. They are getting and will put up a fight against the Hawks ‘B’.
The Latvian Hawks ‘B’ are a good team but they lost 4 games in a row. You would think that their players would have their heads down as they were leaving their games but for the most part they’ve held them high. And they have every reason to keep them high as they’ve fought hard in every game. They lost 7-1 to the Dublin Wolves last Saturday night and they lost 5-1 to the Kilkenny City Storm a month prior. However, they weren’t particularly outplayed by either of the top two teams on those occasions. They competed in those games and just fell victim to some fantastic goal scorers. In between those games, they played the Dundalk Bulls ‘B’ team but they lost out 4-3 in a game that they would probably like back. They need the points this Sunday as it would bring them to up to 9 points and into 4th place. They would be level on points with the Rams ‘B’, Ravens, Eagles and Whalers while being just behind the Rams ‘B’ on goal difference. For the Ladies a win would bring them ahead of the Dundalk Bulls ‘B’ and take them out of last place.
The game faces off at 9:30 p.m. in the Dundalk Ice Dome and entry is free. So come along for a fantastic way to end your weekend with an IIHL Development Division game.