The evening on February 3th, 2013 became a great evening for the Studs 2, where the first victory in the 2012-2013 season was achieved against the Dordrecht Lions 4 at the IJsbaan Twente in Enschede, with a score of 7-3.
The Studs had some minor changes in the team especially on the defensive side. Annelies Tielenburg and Niels Korteling had to switch from their offensive position to a defensive one, due to a shortage on defensive players. Also, a change in the offensive line took place: Ivar Dorst left due to transfer arrangements to Australia. But the Studs had found good replacements for his position. After a motivating speech from our captain Harri Blankenstein we went on the ice.
During the first period the Studs played soft, there was no aggressive play and the Dordrecht Lions opened the score in the first 3 minutes. This opening goal resulted in a more offensive play from the Studs which resulted after the 6th minute in a goal, scored by Bram Gnodde with an assist from the captain Harri Blankenstein. Not much later Ralph Macke had to cool down for two minutes because of interference. In the final 5 minutes of the first period 3 goals were made and unfortunately two of them were made by the Dordrecht Lions, but Jasper Janssen managed to keep the difference to a minimum. The first period ended with a score of 2-3.
After a speech from our coach Elmer Lastdrager, who told us to play more aggressive, we entered the second period. After 8 minutes the Dordrecht Lions got a penalty and had to continue with four players on the field for two minutes. After a rapid resumption a pass from Harri Blankenstein came to Lauri Heikkilä and a goal was made in the first 10 seconds of the powerplay, which put the score back to equal: 3-3! The studs started to play better and better and they were flying on the ice. Not much later after the third goal the fourth goal was made by Rogier Vermeulen in the 30th minute, which put the Studs on the lead. During the final ten minutes of the second period there were made no goals. There were however some scoring possibilities on both sides, but our goalie Luitzen Hietkamp together with the defense did know to keep the goal clean from scoring by the opponent. The second period ended in 4-3 in the advantage of the Studs 2.
The coach was satisfied, but still mentioned some minor mistakes in the second period. The job was clear, get no goals against and increase the goal difference. And that is what we did. The third period was the best period of the game and we played perfectly. Great passing combinations were made and the offensive lines made good use of the power plays. Two goals were scored during a power play, by Victor Hoeksema and again one by Lauri Heikkilä! The Dordrecht Lions did get some scoring chances but these were easily for the goalie to hold. The studs however were not done yet with the Lions and again Victor Hoeksema finished the Dordrecht Lions with a final goal in the last two seconds of the third period! The studs 2 won their first match with great numbers, 7-3. A match to be proud of and a beer was well-earned!