Chill bring the pressure to Melbourne

CANBERRA CHILL BRING THE PRESSURE TO MELBOURNE

The Canberra Chill headed south to Melbourne for their last away game of the round matches.

The CDC Canberra Chill women opened the evening against HC Melbourne. This match saw the debut of Albury talent Tess Palubiski and Naomi Evans become the highest capped female player for Canberra. It was a tight first quarter with both sides with penalty corner opportunities and Amy Lawton opening fire against her previous side, both sides defending well with the score at 0-0 heading into the second quarter. Melbourne scoring first through a quick turn over play, Canberra Chill goalkeeper Alyssa Smith shutting down the shootout conversion. Olivia Shannon returned fire after the Chill earned a penalty stroke to level the score. Another tight quarter from the sides with Chill putting on a lot of pressure heading into half time. Tess Palubiski with great scoring opportunities and creating some nice opportunities for her teammates too in the third quarter. Alice Arnott penalised with a 10-minute yellow card from a scoring opportunity saw her sidelined for the remainder of the quarter and halfway into the final quarter. A well-executed penalty corner from the Chill saw Georgina West score her first for the season and take the lead 2-1. Amy Lawton controlling the game well and running down the clock. HC Melbourne took their opportunity with just over one minute to go and levelled it back up at 2-2, Alyssa Smith in the net shutting down the shootout conversion again. The final siren blared, and the game headed to shootouts. Olivia Shannon and Alice Arnott slot in their shootout attempts but HC Melbourne locked away the win. 2-2 full time with HC Melbourne taking it out 3-2 in shootouts.

The men followed on after with HC Melbourne putting the pressure on early, but the Chill fought back with Hayden Dillon flying in with a nice shot to open the scoring but just missed the shootout conversion. Chill rewarded with a penalty corner, James Day with a drag flick but saved by HC Melbourne’s goalkeeper. HC Melbourne with a solid drag flick to level it back up at the end of the first quarter. Chill goalkeeper Brendan Hill in the net shutting down early goal opportunities for HC Melbourne in the second quarter. A stick save on the line from James Day but HC Melbourne came in quick to steal the ball and slot it in the bottom corner. The sides headed into half time with HC Melbourne holding a 2-1 lead. The Chill lost captain Hayden Dillon early in the third quarter with a dislocated shoulder and the men were under major pressure. HC Melbourne put their foot hard on the gas, slotting in 5 goals in the third quarter. In the final quarter the Chill managed to award themselves with a few penalty corners, despite their best efforts, they were unable to convert. The Chill battled all the way to the final siren. HC Melbourne taking the win, 9-1.

The results may not have been what the sides were after but the CDC Canberra Chill a proud to have two resilient sides that fight until the end.

The sides return home for the final game of the rounds against the Tassie Tigers at the EPC Solar Hockey Stadium on Friday 21^st November at 6:30pm.