Filed by Kevin Teo on April 16, 2005 at 8:48 PM
A near-capacity crowd of about 850 filled the Phillip Ice House to watch the Canberra Knights defeat the Sydney Bears 6-3 in their Australian Ice Hockey League opener earlier tonight.
"I’m very pleased with the boys and especially with the crowd tonight," said Knights general manager John Raut. "It’s always something to get a near full house when the [ACT] Brumbies are also playing tonight."
David Batho scored two goals and added an assist to lead the Knights who also amassed 32 penailty minutes to Sydney’s eight.
Canberra went ahead midway through the first period through Steven Deans and doubled their lead soon after when Clint Lorteau rushed the puck across two zones to score a brilliant individual effort.
But the Bears came roared back with Paul Shumak slicing the lead in half before and oppurtunistic goal by Adrian Esposito tied the game.
With a lapse in concentration gifting the puck to the Bears at the blueline, the puck was played into the Canberra crease, where players from both teams jostled for possession before Dean Eisler knocked the puck to Esposito who fired in.
Canberra goaltender Dylan Smart stood on his head from then on, turning away all but one of the 26 shots on him that followed.
The Knights forwards then got to work, with a pair of goals by Batho, and a shorthanded tally from captain Mike Harrow giving Canberra a 5-2 lead.
The pick of the Knights goals came in the third period, when fancy stick work by Mike Silva caused Sydney’s defensive pair to collide leaving a wide open net for Matt Lehoczky to finish off.
But as both teams began to tire late in the game the Bears pulled one back through Jakub Petr.
With a collapsing Knights defense forming a box in front of the net, Petr took a pass from Vladan Stansky and fired high for the game’s final goal.
Canberra heads off to Erina tomorrow to play the expansion Central Coast Rhinos before returning to the Ice House next Saturday to host the AIHL’s other expansion team, the Brisbane Blue Tongues. | 
