Islanders Rebound from Tuesday’s Loss to Win in Surrey

The Stickmen’s last game was all the way back on June 14th; tonight it looked like the time off might have worked against them.

Delta opened up scoring just a couple of minutes into the first with Neil Arbogast feeding Stuart White a great set up. Aaron Fill also had a great assist on his goal from Hiroshi Jensen, and that started the ball rolling for Jensen.

Before the first was over he would put in one more goal, and also start the second period with two more. His second marker was a bit confusing because he threw it so hard it went in and bounced right back out again.

Mitch Dibblee capitalized on a Delta high sticking penalty halfway through the period, and then assisted on Chris Martin’s goal with just 21 seconds left in the first frame.

Surrey came out with more fire in the second. Graham Weidenhammer killed off most of Martin’s cross checking penalty using his size to keep possession in the Delta end.

About halfway through the period the tension got a little high so Islander Aaron Fill and Stickman Dylan Hernandez decided to sort things out.

The crowd chose Hernandez as the victor, and I agree since he stayed at Fill even with his jersey over his head. Plus, Fill had his helmet on the whole time. Five minutes in the box for each, and on went the game.

The Islanders made it to ten goals by the end of the period thanks to handy work from Kevin Guichon and Corey Williamson.

The Stickmen had a rough time with their opportunities, but John Ballantine made use of a great pass from Weidenhammer to end the period down 4-10 to Delta.

Brandon Smith is a very entertaining goalie to watch; he started the third with one of his sprawling saves on Carlton Schuss which made the crowd react. 

But from then on, it was all Schuss. By the end of the third- his play was text book: Delta would get possession, pull Lowe from the net, and Schuss would burst from the bench right up the middle of the floor and rifle one past Smith.

He did this not once, not twice, but three times; the only time there was a gap between his goals was when he was in the penalty box for a high stick. The night definitely belonged to him.

Surrey took a couple of penalties that caused them some trouble and they just couldn’t get out of the rut. However, their last two goals of the game were all heart. 

Sean Messenger played hard in the third. On one play he shot off the bench when Clayton Bell hurt his ankle, to dive head first at the ball to prevent another Delta breakaway. A couple of minutes later he showed great patience when he assisted Richard Willmotts goal.

Graham Weidenhammer had the Stickmen’s final goal when he scooped up a rebound from Willmott and fired it at Scott Lowe with everything he had. You could feel it in the bleachers, he really wanted that goal.

Unfortunately for Surrey, the game would end with Delta winning 15-6.

Both teams play their next games at home; Delta takes on the Adanacs on Saturday, and Surrey host the Saints next Thursday.