The Botany Swarm have advanced to the Grand Final of the New Zealand Ice Hockey League after defeating the West Auckland Admirals in a two-game semi-final series over the weekend.
The Swarm will continue in pursuit of their first Birgel Cup since 2011 when they face the Southern Stampede in Queenstown this coming weekend in a best of three series.
The Stampede pipped them for the minor premiership and the direct route to the grand final by a solitary point, forcing the Swarm to face their Auckland rivals in the semis.
A 3-1 win on Saturday was backed up by a 4-1 victory on Sunday on home ice at Paradice Botany and a spot in the decider was guaranteed.
Aleksander Polozov had a double and Jackson Fontaine scored as the Swarm made a solid start to their series on Saturday night.
With the score across two games counting, the Swarm took a two-goal advantage into Sunday’s contest but would have been nervous when the Admirals opened the scoring in game 2.
But Petr Stepanek scored twice and with Kyle Jonsson and Ritchie Hopkinson also getting the puck past the goalie, the Swarm took command and booked their spot in the final.
Recent Comments