Match Report: Hull Seahawks 5-1 – Milton Keynes Lightning | 18 October 2026

Hull Seahawks beat Milton Keynes Lightning 5-1 at Hull Arena on 18 October, turning an early Lightning lead into a convincing NIHL National home win. Kell Beattie put MKL ahead inside four minutes, but Johnny Corneil equalised before the first interval. Hull then scored twice late in the second period and twice more in the third, with Finlay Ulrick scoring two of their goals. The result gave each side a home win from the weekend’s back-to-back meetings.

With Aleksanteri Heiskanen in goal for Hull Seahawks and Jordan Hedley in goal for Milton Keynes Lightning, Kell Beattie opened the scoring for Lightning at 03:39, with David Thomson and Danny Weight providing the assists. The defenceman’s goal was his first of the season across competitive fixtures and put the visitors 1-0 ahead. Weight’s assist extended his run of registering a goal or assist in each of Lightning’s last 10 competitive games. It was MKL’s only goal of the match, although the lead lasted for more than 12 minutes before Hull found a reply.

Corneil brought the Seahawks level at 15:58, assisted by Thomas Stubley and Ulrick. Hull’s equaliser made it 1-1, rather than overturning the lead outright, and neither side scored again before the first break. Lightning had put nine shots on goal to Hull’s seven in the opening 20 minutes. Beattie’s early contribution had given MKL the first advantage, but Corneil’s reply ensured the teams began the middle period level.

The score remained 1-1 until 32:52. Emil Svec then scored from Corneil and Ulrick to put Hull ahead for the first time. That goal changed the position Lightning had held since Beattie’s opener: after drawing level late in the first, the Seahawks had taken the lead midway through the second. It also began the decisive stretch of the game. At 37:44, Ulrick added another for Hull, with Svec and Corneil assisting, to make it 3-1 before the interval.

Those two goals came 4:52 apart and left MKL needing two goals to draw level after 40 minutes. Corneil had been involved in all three Hull goals to that point, scoring the equaliser and assisting both second-period goals. Ulrick had helped set up the equaliser and Svec’s go-ahead goal before adding Hull’s third himself. The Seahawks recorded 17 shots on goal in the middle period to Lightning’s seven, while the score moved from 1-1 to a two-goal Hull lead.

Hull extended that advantage early in the third. Ulrick scored his second of the match at 43:29, again assisted by Svec and Corneil, taking the score to 4-1. The same three players had combined for the previous goal, and their work across those two goals put clear distance between the sides. What had been a one-goal game until 37:44 had become a three-goal deficit for Lightning less than six minutes of playing time later.

MKL recorded 20 shots on goal in the final period, compared with Hull’s six, but could not cut into the deficit. At 52:03, Lightning’s Jake Hayward received two minutes for slashing. Hull scored on the resulting power play at 53:57, when Jack Musil made it 5-1 from assists by Jason Hewitt and Lee Bonner. It was the only power-play goal of the match and the last change to the score. Lightning finished with 36 shots on goal to Hull’s 30, but Beattie’s opener remained their only goal.

The Seahawks’ response to falling behind gave them the second game of the weekend. Lightning had won the previous meeting in Milton Keynes 3-1; Hull’s win at home completed a split of the back-to-back fixtures. Corneil finished with a goal and three assists, while Ulrick had two goals and two assists, their contributions central to the run of four unanswered Hull goals that decided this match.

Source: Official NIHL National gamesheet.