Beckett Cross scored his fifth goal of the season in the third period Tuesday night, but the Hawks fell 8-2 to the Richmond Sockeyes. // Katie Lawrence-Balloch photo
For the first time in its existence, the Richmond Sockeyes have won the regular season Tunnel Series trophy, defeating the Ice Hawks 8-2 on Tuesday night for a 4-2 season series victory.
It was a close game after 30 minutes of play, with the two teams tied 1-1 at the second period media time out, but then Richmond turned a corner and started to find the back of the net.
The Ice Hawks drew first blood on their first shot of the game – Mateo Sjoberg’s twentieth of the year. Danylo Bereza sent a thread pass through the neutral zone to Payton Hu, who skated in down the right wing and chipped it over his defender’s stick to Mateo Sjoberg. Sjoberg was all alone and lifted it over Thomas Popa’s left shoulder for a 1-0 Delta lead and the lone goal of the period.
Richmond was able to even the score in the second period, with Teo Lin netting one seconds into a power play for Richmond on a quick pass from below the goal line. They took a 2-1 lead just under five minutes later on a Daniel Zhou goal far side on Mason Upton.
On a Sockeyes 5-on-3 later in the period, Jonathan Soares took a shot from the point that hit a Hawks skate and went past Upton to give Richmond a 3-1 lead after 40 minutes.
The visiting team would score three more power play goals in the third period, that one from William Huo, Michael McIntyre, and Nicholas Noren, for a 6-1 lead.
Beckett Cross added his fifth goal of the season on a pass from Austin Kofler in the left corner to make it 6-2, but Richmond went right back down and scored to regain their five-goal lead. They added a late one for an 8-2 final.
