Northstars Crush Lightning 9-1 in Structured Masterclass

Updated: May 20

Images: Image: Jess Fuller and Jamison O'Malley

The Northstars defeated the visiting Brisbane Lightning 9-1 at home in front of a capacity crowd on Saturday night, getting back to basics and playing a highly structured game that was effective at every level. The crowd was loud from the first puck drop, and with each goal, they got louder.

“We talked a lot over the last couple of weeks about getting back into some structure and pace of play and some of the small details and bigger details in our team defensively, our team neutral zone and our offensive zone play that we got away from for a couple of weeks,” said Head Coach, Kevin Noble.

Riley Klugerman announced his return to the team with a bang, blasting a hat trick in his first game back! The two newest Northstars imports, Alexander Yuill and Kyler Matthews, also made their presence felt, each lighting the lamp twice in the onslaught.

The fireworks started early as Yuill opened the scoring with his first-ever AIHL goal for Newcastle. Klugerman quickly followed suit, and Matthews capped the first-period flurry to make it 3-0 Northstars at the first intermission.

The goal deluge continued in the second as Klugerman and Matthews again found the back of the net within the first minute and midway through, respectively. Veteran snipers Daniel Berno and Francis Drolet piled on late to extend the Northstars' commanding lead to 7-0 after two periods.

Yuill potted his second of the night early in the third before Klugerman's hat-trick tally. Brisbane managed a consolation goal late, but it did little to damper the Northstars' 9-1 demolition.

“I could go through the line-up all the way through and speak really well and proudly about each individual. So I guess in saying that, the score aside, I was more looking at the details in our game. I was really proud of our group and how they played in front of Monty tonight, and I was just really proud of how he came in and really was able to calm things down for us back there and do a really great job,” said Noble.

“It’s a great win for us. We've got a little bit of a gap at the top now, and we definitely played like we had a gap, which is nice. There was a lot of positivity going into the game and coming out of that game,” said Captain Liam Manwarring.

“All I can say is the boys battled so hard for the hardest work tonight, and Matt Montgomery was awesome, and I'm so proud of that kid. It felt like a real team effort. It felt like everything came together from the back to the front.”