Swindon Wildcats beat Milton Keynes Lightning 5-4 after a shootout at the Better Link Centre on 25 October. Lightning turned a 2-1 first-period deficit into a 4-2 lead with three goals in less than three minutes, but Swindon drew level before the second interval. Neither side scored in the third period or overtime, leaving Caden Villegas to settle the NIHL National game in the shootout.
With Renny Marr in goal for Swindon Wildcats and Jared Whale in goal for Milton Keynes Lightning, Matt Vermaeten put Swindon ahead at 01:17, assisted by Villegas and Ryan Wells. Lightning answered at 04:57 through Danny Weight, with Sean Norris and David Thomson supplying the assists. The equaliser was Weight’s tenth goal of the season across competitive fixtures. The score stayed at 1-1 until Liam Fraser, assisted by Sean Richards and Ben O’Connor, restored Swindon’s lead at 16:40. The Wildcats went into the first interval 2-1 ahead.
Lightning’s response after the break changed the game quickly. Carter Hamill brought them level at 23:36 from Bradey Johnson and Jarred White. At 25:15, Swindon’s Dylan Lipsey received two minutes for hooking; seven seconds later, Harry Gulliver scored on the power play from Thomson and Archie Hazeldine to give MKL their first lead.
That lead became 4-2 just 55 seconds later. Norris scored at 26:17, assisted by Ed Knaggs and Thomson, completing a three-goal Lightning passage that had begun at 23:36. Norris scored for the second successive competitive game, taking his season tally across competitive fixtures to nine goals. Thomson had assisted Weight’s first-period equaliser as well as both goals that put Lightning in front.
Swindon’s reply was almost as swift. Glenn Billing cut the deficit to one at 30:57, with Ed Bradley and Wells assisting. Bradley then equalised at 31:37 from Vermaeten’s assist. The Wildcats had erased Lightning’s two-goal lead in 40 seconds, and the teams reached the second interval at 4-4. It was the third time MKL had been level in the match, but the first after holding a lead of their own.
Neither side found a fifth goal during the final 20 minutes of regulation. Swindon put 10 shots on goal in the third period to Lightning’s eight, while a two-minute tripping penalty to Toms Rutkis at 45:56 passed without a change to the score. Regulation ended 4-4, so the game went to overtime.
The additional five minutes also finished without a goal. Swindon recorded four shots on goal in overtime and Lightning one, but the result was decided in the shootout. Villegas’s conversion gave the Wildcats the 5-4 win. Lightning took one NIHL National point from a game in which they had led by two; Swindon took two after their second-period recovery and the shootout finish.
Source: Official NIHL National gamesheet.
Scoring summary
MK Lightning: Sean Norris 1+1, Danny Weight 1+0, Harry Gulliver 1+0, Carter Hamill 1+0, David Thomson 0+3, Archie Hazeldine 0+1, Ed Knaggs 0+1, Jarred White 0+1, Bradey Johnson 0+1.
Swindon Wildcats: Caden Villegas 1+1, Ed Bradley 1+1, Matt Vermaeten 1+1, Liam Fraser 1+0, Glenn Billing 1+0, Ryan Wells 0+2, CONNOR Ben O 0+1, Sean Richards 0+1.
First Published by Milton Keynes Lightning mk-lightning.co.uk
Photo credits: Tony Sargent
