The Halifax Thunderbirds battled to a 14-12 win over the Vancouver Warriors on Saturday night at Scotiabank Centre in Halifax, N.S.
This was the first game this season where Halifax was without goalie Warren Hill who was placed on the COVID list. Without Hill, the 15-year NLL veteran Aaron Bold suited up for his first game for the Thunderbirds.
“It was awesome. It was my first time, of course, playing in net in Halifax,” says Bold. “We have great fans, and I want to thank them, they’ve always been supportive ever since I came here. I’ve been on other teams, and they say ‘come on’ whenever I have a rough half, so I appreciate the fans for sticking with me and the team, of course, when we were going through a rough half there.”
The first half was shaky for both him and the defence as they surrendered 10 goals. But they found their groove in the second half. They shut out Vancouver in the third quarter and allowed two goals in the fourth.
“I thought Boldy played outstanding. You never want your starting goalie to go down, but that’s why we brought him here,” says Halifax’s head coach Mike Accursi. “We knew with COVID that you never know what is going to happen. (Bold) is a championship level goalie and he proved that tonight.”
Chris Boushy opened the scoring for Halifax while shorthanded. He had the ball on the left side, and there was only one defenceman between him and the net. Boushy ran past him and dove over the crease for the goal nearly four minutes into the game.
Vancouver answered a minute later on the power play. Keegan Bal had the ball at the top of the arch and shot it past Bold for the goal.
Kyle Killen scored two goals within two minutes to make the score 3-1 for Vancouver.
Kyle Jackson scored to get the Thunderbirds within one, but Vancouver didn’t let up. Riley Loewen and Brandon Godwin scored within 40 seconds of each other to make it 5-2.
Eric Fannell finished off the scoring to make it 5-3 at the end of the quarter.
Clarke Pettersson started the scoring in the second quarter. He received a pass across the offensive zone from Cody Jamieson and shot from the left side to score.
After Petterson’s goal, Halifax and Vancouver evenly traded goals. Riley Loewen and Logan Schuss scored for Vancouver, while Eric Fannell, Scott Campbell and Cody Jamieson scored for Halifax to tie the game at eight.
Vancouver got hot to end the quarter.
Logan Schuss shot the ball from the left side and Bold made the save, but Loewen was right in front of the net to grab the rebound and score. Four minutes later, he got loose in the slot and shot top corner for the hat trick.
Kyle Killen finished the scoring in the quarter to give Vancouver a 10-7 lead.
“We weren’t dictating, would be the best word,” says Bold. “Coach Billy Dee Smith says ‘dictate, dictate.’ You know I think we were stepping back, giving them good shots off the swing, and that’s their game, and we were fortunate enough to stay with them enough to turn it around in the second half.”
Austin Shanks opened the scoring in the third quarter. While shorthanded, he spun away from a defender on the left side to get himself open and score.
Halifax kept coming. Stephan Leblanc and Kyle Jackson scored to tie the game at 10.
Halifax shut out Vancouver in the third quarter. They were noticeably tighter defensively and caused Vancouver to have two shot clock violations early in the quarter.
“I think pride and ownership of this team and the guys knowing that we can’t just expect to go out and just win. We have to play, we have to battle and we have to do all the little things that we’re good at and we did that in the second half,” says Accursi.
When Halifax needed him, Aaron Bold was there to stop any shot coming his way. He stopped 18/20 shots in the second half.
“I was kind of feeling that zone feeling, which is really good,” says Bold. “So I was fortunate enough to zone in on what I can control, and I kept repeating, ‘I believe, I believe,’ and I believe in everybody on this team, and we stepped it up.”
Riley Loewen wouldn’t stop scoring. He ran towards the goal and managed to get himself open. He deked Bold to score his fifth of the game 51 seconds into the fourth quarter.
Austin Shanks responded two minutes later for Halifax. He received the ball running towards the net and scored his second to tie the game at 11.
Chris Boushy and Clarke Petterson scored within five seconds of each other to extend the lead for Halifax. Shanks finished the hat trick firing the ball from the top of the arch. After Shanks’ goal, Vancouver pulled goalie Alex Buque and put in Steve Fryer.
Along with Shanks’ three goals, Cody Jamieson, Stephan Leblanc, Clarke Petterson and Chris Boushy all had five points or more.
“We are a collective group; that’s the way we built this team is everybody contributes and everybody is contributing. When you have an offence like that where you don’t have to rely on one or two guys, it’s a hard offence to stop,” says Accursi.
Kyle Killen added another one, but Halifax won the game 14-12, extending their win streak to five games. Halifax’s record is now 8-1, and they are undefeated at home. Vancouver’s record drops to 5-5.
Halifax outshot Vancouver 57-50. Aaron Bold made 38 saves, while Alex Buque stopped 37/51 shots and Steve Fryer stopped all six shots he faced.
Halifax plays at home on Friday night against the Albany FireWolves, the only team they’ve lost to this season. They will then immediately travel to Georgia to play the Swarm on Saturday night in a rare back-to-back scenario.
