AWARE continues to steamroll through opponents

Photography by Tadamasa Nagayama

WITH two games left in the regular season, the SHL standings see AWARE with a stranglehold on first place with its 14-2 record; the Sukhumvit Spitfires are in second spot at 9-7; while Hertz is third with a 5-11 record.  Expedia is in the final place with a 4-12 win-loss total.

Hertz’s Andy Brine continues to sit atop the SHL scoring race with seven goals and 15 assists; Expedia’s Juhani Ijas and AWARE’s Devin Michael are tied for second place with 11 goals and eight assists each. Expedia’s Jordan Ashton and AWARE captain Patrik Lundback are  tied for third overall with 16 points.   
 
The AWARE-Sukhumvit game played on February 11 was the most exciting of the season  with AWARE extending their winning streak to a record 11  games as they beat the Sukhumvit Spitfires 4-3 in a six-round shootout. AWARE captain, Patrik Lundback, the SHL’s best player, fittingly scored the winning goal in the shoot-out, as four-minute three-on-three session overtime failed to produce a victor.

It was a heartbreaking loss for Sukhumvit who had killed off two holding penalties to Ernesto Bauer in the overtime stanza, only to lose on Lundback’s shoot-out marker. Both goalkeepers were outstanding in this game as AWARE’s Patrick Leduc, who has yet to lose a game this season, stopped 25 of the 28 shots sent his way, while Sukhumvit’s Pattarapol “Dream” Ungkulpattanasuk turned away 40 of the 44 shots he faced earning his second straight Rolling Stone Pizza player-of-the-game award.       
 
While AWARE has won 11 in a row, Expedia’s fortunes have gone the other way as it has lost 10 straight games and morale is low on a team that many picked to repeat as SHL champions. AWARE is the team to beat as we head towards the SHL playoffs. As AWARE and Sukhumvit have clinched first and second overall, the battle for the third and fourth spot between Hertz and Expedia continues.

First overall will play the fourth-place finisher, while second and third will face-off in the two best-of-three game semi-final series. The two winners will then compete in one-game SHL championship set for March 17th. All SHL games are played at the Rink, 7th floor, Central Grand Rama IX; admission is free.
 
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