Telford Tigers N2 – Solihull Barons

Recap

The Solihull Barons rounded off their short pre-season schedule with an emphatic win over the Telford Tigers in a goal laden tie, with forward Matt Maurice earning a hat-trick of hat-tricks as he found the Tigers net no less than nine times. 

Having had to try to come from behind against the Tigers at Solihull the previous Sunday only to fall short, the Barons came out more quickly this time. By three-quarters the way through the first period, the visiting Barons – courtesy of a pair of goals by Matt Maurice and a single by line-mate Niklas Ottosson – had pulled out a 3-1 lead before being pegged back to a single goal advantage by the Tigers by the end of the first 20.

In the second period the Barons sought to get clear space between themselves and the Tigers. Maurice restored the two goal buffer almost straight off the 2nd period puck-drop while Richard Crowe padded the advantage further on the 25th minute. The Tigers were not done and a brace of goals in just over a minute by the Tigers James Smith and Connor Keyes kept the home side within a stick width of the Barons. A quick goal by Jordan Jolly followed by a trio from Maurice quickly deflated any hopes of a Tigers comeback. While Telford did capitalise on a late period powerplay, yet another goal by Maurice in the final second of the middle period ensured the Barons would emerge for the final period 5 goals to the good.

The final period gave Maurice a remarkable eighth and ninth goal of the game with the Tigers getting a final minute consolation to round off a positive end to the Solihull pre-season.