Matchday Recap: S02D24
Eight upsets across twelve games on Matchday 24, and none louder than what happened at The Pyramid Basin, where Cairo led by three goals heading into the third period, watched heavy-favorite Helsinki reel off four unanswered to go ahead 6-5, and then scored three of their own in the final three minutes to steal it back, 8-6. Perth erased a two-goal deficit against Tokyo, Anchorage overturned Wellington in the third, and Rimini and McMurdo both toppled 1.65 favorites on opposite sides of the map. Quite a night across the league. Allons-y.
STO 1 — MDE 4
Medellín arrived at The Still Strait as modest road favorites over Stockholm, and they left with exactly the result the odds promised—efficient, physical, and never really in doubt. Isabella Gómez opened the scoring at 5:28, assisted by Sebastián Cardona, and after Albin Nordlund and Mariana Zapata dropped the gloves at center ice, Andrés Quintero cashed in on the resulting power play at 13:46 off a Daniela Mejía feed. Two goals inside eight minutes, and the Mapaches led 2-0 after twenty hard-hitting minutes.
The second period only widened the gap. Daniela Mejía and Maja Forsberg fought at 4:23, and Nicolás Betancur made it 3-0 at 11:58 off Quintero's return favor. Valentina Ospina added a fourth for Medellín at 13:10, batting one out of the air with Zapata assisting, and by the second intermission Stockholm's task had become close to impossible.
The third period gave the home crowd one moment to cheer—Maja Forsberg finally beat the Mapaches goaltender at 12:16, assisted by Axel Lindqvist—but it came after fights involving Valentina Ospina and Elin Sjöberg at 9:08 and Hugo Wikström and Mejía at 13:28 that had already decided the game. Ospina's line: a goal, three hits, a fight. Quintero's: a goal and an assist. Medellín never trailed.
NRB 1 — JBG 4
Nairobi were 1.81 favorites at The Ochre Reserve against a Johannesburg side sitting at 2.01, and for one period the home fans had reason to believe the numbers. Kagiso Molefe and Peter Kimani fought inside the first two minutes, Kevin Otieno and Thabo Mokoena traded coincidental majors at 7:50, and Samuel Njoroge capped a hard-fought opening frame with a goal at 14:48, assisted by Moses Okello. Narwhals up 1-0, twelve hits and two fights already in the books.
Lindiwe Sithole answered for the Jaguars at 9:57 of the second, Sipho Nkosi assisting, to level it 1-1—and that's when Johannesburg took the game away entirely. Lerato Dlamini opened the third-period flood at 5:26, Bongani Mthembu assisting, before Kagiso Molefe—who'd dropped the gloves with Kimani in the opening minutes—potted one himself at 7:07 off a Nkosi feed. Thandiwe Radebe finished it with a power-play tally at 10:22, Naledi Khumalo setting up the finish, and Johannesburg walked out of The Ochre Reserve with three unanswered third-period goals and the two points.
Sipho Nkosi's fingerprints were on two of the Jaguars' four goals without scoring himself—two assists, a hit, and a fight in a complete two-way performance. At 2.01 odds, Johannesburg's third period was the difference. Quel retournement.
PER 3 — TOK 2
Tokyo were 1.74 favorites at The Red Furnace, and for forty minutes the Titans looked every bit the part. Haruto Nakamura opened it at 12:41 in the first, Riku Mori assisting on a play the Black Hole Net gets credit for, and Sakura Shimizu doubled the lead twenty-five seconds later off a Yūma Hayashi feed. Sōta Watanabe and Zara Patel fought at 10:25, and Shūta Tanaka and Cooper Hale followed suit before the period was out—Perth down 2-0 after one.
Zara Patel pulled one back for the Pyres in the second at 10:23, Jack Mitchell assisting, keeping Perth within a goal of a game that looked to be slipping away. The third period belonged entirely to the home side. Sienna Kapoor tied it at 8:38, Liam O'Brien assisting, and Nate Hargrove completed the comeback at 13:12 on the power play, Kapoor returning the favor with the helper. Mio Kobayashi's penalty forty seconds before Hargrove's goal opened the door, and Perth walked through it.
Kapoor finished with a goal and an assist; Hargrove's power-play winner was his only point of the night but the one that counted. At 1.74 odds, Tokyo's two-goal first period should have been enough. It wasn't. C'est le hockey.
BUS 1 — SAO 3
Busan were prohibitive 1.52 favorites at The Frozen Dock, and São Paulo needed a scoreless, fight-filled first period just to find their footing—Eun-bi Han and Mariana Lima fought at 2:13, Sang-hoon Bae and Bruno Nascimento followed two minutes later, and Jae-won Kim and Nascimento went again in the period's final minute. Sixteen hits, three fights, no goals.
So-hee Hwang broke through for the home side at 5:55 of the second, Sang-hoon Bae assisting, but Rafael Oliveira answered two minutes later for the Serpents, Gustavo Ribeiro with the helper, and the game went to the second intermission tied 1-1—still very much Busan's to control given the odds.
It didn't stay that way. Camila Ferreira put São Paulo ahead for good at 5:25 of the third, Amanda Barbosa assisting, and Barbosa completed the upset herself at 11:29 on the power play, Felipe Carvalho picking up the assist after Hye-jin Choi's penalty. Two unanswered goals in the final period, and the Serpents left The Frozen Dock as 2.56 underdogs who'd out-executed the favorites when it counted. Barbosa's line—a goal, an assist, two hits—made her the story of a full-team effort against a Busan side that never found an answer once São Paulo seized the lead. Une belle victoire pour les négligés.
GDL 4 — MTL 2
Guadalajara and Montréal were close enough on the board—1.85 to 1.97—that this one was always going to be decided by whoever built the better third period, and at El Rincón Perdido, that team was the Gatos. The first was scoreless but hardly quiet, with Valentina Ramírez and Chloé Moreau setting an early physical tone.
Philippe Dubois opened the scoring for Montréal at 1:10 of the second, Catherine Lavoie assisting, before Sofía Navarro answered for Guadalajara at 3:19, Andrés Rojas with the helper. Rodrigo Vargas and Chloé Moreau fought at 12:58, and the teams went to the third locked at 1-1.
Emilio Delgado took over from there. He opened the third-period scoring at 5:06, Jimena Castillo assisting, and after Marc-Antoine Dufresne tied it back up for Montréal at 11:05—Jean-François Tremblay with the assist—Delgado struck again two minutes later, Navarro returning the earlier favor. Andrés Rojas capped it with a power-play goal at 14:59, Camila Flores assisting, after a late Tremblay penalty gave Guadalajara the extra skater. Three goals in the final ten minutes, Delgado's brace the headline, Rojas finishing with a goal and an assist of his own. A tight matchup on paper, decided clearly on the ice.
MUM 1 — DKR 2
Dakar were the marginal 1.79 favorites over Mumbai at The Salt Pavilion, and the odds held, though not without late resistance. The first period was all fists and no finish—Moussa Ndiaye and Kiran Bhatt fought at 12:01, six hits total, nothing on the scoreboard.
The Djinns took control in the second. Awa Diop scored a beauty at 9:54, Ibrahima Sarr assisting, and Mariama Cissé doubled the lead just over a minute later, Mamadou Guèye with the helper. Two goals in seventy-two seconds turned a tight game into a comfortable one, and Dakar carried a 2-0 cushion into the third.
Mumbai didn't fold. Kavya Iyer got the home side on the board at 6:26 of the third, Divya Mehta assisting, and pushed for the equalizer the rest of the way, but Dakar's defense held. Ananya Kulkarni's late penalty gave Mumbai one more look with the extra attacker, and it wasn't enough. Diop and Cissé's quick-strike second period was the difference at The Salt Pavilion; the Djinns did what 1.79 odds said they should, even if Mumbai made them work for the final ten minutes.
ANC 3 — WEL 2
Wellington were 1.82 favorites at The Watch Station, and the first period gave both sides a taste of what was coming—fights starting with Liam Tomoana and Isaiah Tobin at 8:02 and Charlotte Hemi and Tara Alexie two minutes later. No goals, but plenty of ice time in The Sixth.
Awhina Clarke broke through for Wellington at 14:40 of the second, Tane Wiremu assisting, and the Whales carried a 1-0 lead—and their odds—into the third. Then Anchorage reversed the entire game in the span of ten minutes. Levi Simmonds tied it at 3:59, Mason Kluane assisting, and Isaiah Tobin—who'd dropped the gloves with Tomoana in the first—turned provider into scorer, finding the net at 7:01 off another Kluane feed and again at 11:53, Heather Braund this time getting the assist. Olivia Rangi piled up four hits along the way before finally getting Wellington on the board again at 13:51, Aroha Ngata assisting.
It wasn't enough. Anchorage's three unanswered third-period goals overturned Wellington's lead and the pre-game numbers with it. Tobin finished with two goals and a fight; Kluane quietly collected two assists. The Watch Station has seen its share of third-period reversals, but this was among the cleanest measurements of a road favorite that simply ran out of legs.
RIM 5 — USH 3
Ushuaia came into The Coastal Pavilion as clear 1.65 favorites, and Rimini spent the entire night proving why that number was wrong. Alessandro Conti opened the scoring at 1:26, Francesca Serra assisting, and Lorenzo Fabbri and Nicolás Sosa fought for the first of what would become three meetings between the two before the night was through.
The second period was end-to-end chaos. Florencia Ramos tied it for Ushuaia at 1:55, and Matías Fernández put the Undertow ahead at 4:19—Santiago Figueroa assisting both—before Giulia Bianchi answered for Rimini at 9:26, Marco Rossetti assisting, and Agustín Medina restored Ushuaia's lead at 9:46. Francesca Serra tied it again at 11:54, Chiara Ricci with the helper, capping a five-goal period that ended 3-3, with Fabbri and Sosa dropping the gloves a second time in between.
Rimini took over in the third. Sofia Barbieri put the Rinklers back in front at 4:58, Fabbri picking up the assist, and Valentina Colombo added the insurance goal at 9:06, Ricci with her second assist of the night. Serra and Sosa capped their rivalry with one more fight at 9:42, and a flurry of late penalties couldn't change the outcome. Serra's goal, assist, hit, and fight made her the story, but Ricci's two assists quietly held the Rinklers together. Eight goals, three fights, one upset. Quelle soirée à Rimini.
GND 1 — WPG 2
Winnipeg were the deserved 1.66 favorites at The Waypoint, and though Gander made them work for it with twenty-three hits and three fights across sixty minutes, the Wendigos never trailed. The first period was pure attrition—Jake Fehr and Trina Pickett fought at 2:58—with nothing on the scoreboard through twenty minutes.
Anna Flett opened the scoring for Winnipeg at 2:15 of the second, Kaya Bearclaw assisting, and that goal held up as the difference for most of the night. Gander pressed physically without breaking through, and Curtis Favel and Bridget Walsh added to the fight ledger before the period was out. The Wendigos carried a 1-0 lead into the third.
Bearclaw doubled Winnipeg's lead at 4:02, Jake Fehr this time providing the assist, before Calvin Roebothan got Gander on the board at 13:02, Gus Maloney assisting, in a third period that also saw Leah Blacksmith and Trina Pickett fight for a second time between them. It was too little, too late for the home side. Bearclaw's goal and assist led the way for Winnipeg, while Fehr contributed an assist, three hits, and a fight in a complete two-way night. The Waypoint stayed loud throughout, but the Wendigos controlled the only two goals that mattered until Gander's late consolation.
VLA 5 — HAV 3
The odds at The Last Terminal were about as close as they come—1.92 for Vladivostok, 1.89 for Havana—and this one still counted as an upset, which tells you something about how thin these margins have become. Ruslan Kozlov opened it at 9:37, Denis Baranov assisting, and Nikita Sorokin made it 2-0 eight seconds later, Tatiana Novikova with the first of her two assists on the night. Orlando Machado got Havana on the board at 13:38, the Black Hole Net getting credit for the finish, and Vladivostok led 2-1 after one.
Maxim Petrov extended the lead at 1:47 of the second, Novikova assisting again, and Sorokin completed his brace at 2:10, another Black Hole Net assist, before Igor Zaytsev and Adonis Reyes fought at 2:37. Reyes pulled one back for Havana late, at 14:34, Yarelys González assisting, and Vladivostok took a 4-2 cushion into the third.
Havana wouldn't go quietly. Dayana Rodríguez scored at 6:32, Claudia Pérez assisting, to cut it to 4-3, but Artyom Volkov answered less than six minutes later, Vera Orlova with the helper, to restore the two-goal cushion for good. Sorokin's two goals and Novikova's two assists paced the home side in a game that never had more than a two-goal margin for either team, and technically qualified as an upset by half a percentage point.
MCM 4 — PRA 1
Prague came into The Remote Range as 1.65 favorites—the same odds, coincidentally, that Rimini overcame earlier on the card—and for one period the Phantoms' reputation held. Kofi Mensah opened the scoring for McMurdo at 2:32, Amira Hassan assisting, but Barbora Králová answered eleven seconds later, Ondřej Marek with the helper, and the sides went to the first intermission level at 1-1 after an even, hard-hitting twenty minutes.
The second period settled nothing—no goals, but plenty of physical exchange, Martin Procházka and Jakub Černý both throwing checks, Ji-hoon Baek and Tomáš Novák trading hits late. Still 1-1 after forty, and Prague's status as favorites still very much intact.
Then McMurdo took over completely. Chris Elliot put the Monoliths back in front at 5:23, Sven Lindberg assisting, and Ingrid Solheim doubled it at 10:30, Ji-hoon Baek with the helper, before Tobias Frey capped it at 13:44, Lindberg picking up his second assist of the period. Three unanswered goals in the third, and Prague—one of the league's most dangerous offensive teams, as anyone who remembers Matchday 21 will recall—managed nothing in response. Lindberg's two assists quietly drove the win; Elliot, Solheim, and Frey each finished with a goal. Personne ne s'y attendait.
CAI 8 — HEL 6
Save the best for last. Helsinki were 1.44 favorites at The Pyramid Basin—the shortest odds of anyone on the card—and Cairo beat them 8-6 in a game that swung three times in the final three minutes alone. Fourteen goals total, the highest-scoring game of the matchday, and a finish that will be replayed in this column for weeks.
Khaled Naguib opened it for the Crocodiles at 5:06, Tarek Soliman assisting, and Mostafa Rashad doubled the lead at 9:15, Mariam Khalil with the helper, before Anniina Tuominen got Helsinki on the board at 9:39 off the Black Hole Net. Cairo led 2-1 after one, and extended it in the second—Nour El-Sayed and Omar Hassan trading goals and assists with Mostafa Rashad and Karim Fahmy, three of four second-period goals going Cairo's way against Saara Virtanen's lone reply. Cairo took a commanding 5-2 lead into the third.
And then Helsinki nearly stole it. Aleksi Korhonen, Elina Heikkinen, and Erik Johansson's power-play goal pulled the Howlers level at 5-5, and Juhani Rantanen—fresh off a fight with Mostafa Rashad—put Helsinki ahead 6-5 at 11:47. The Pyramid Basin went quiet. It didn't stay quiet. Layla Mostafa tied it right back at 12:12 with the extra attacker on, Farida Abdel-Rahman put Cairo back in front at 13:20, and Ahmed Zaki sealed it with seconds left, Mostafa collecting her second assist. Erik Johansson finished with a goal and two assists in a losing effort; Mostafa's goal and two helpers were the winning touch. At 2.82 odds, this was the finest heist of the matchday. C'est magnifique, c'est fou, c'est Hockay.
Eight upsets, a fourteen-goal classic at The Pyramid Basin, and enough third-period reversals to remind everyone why we play all sixty minutes. Cairo's finish will be the one fans replay, but Rimini, McMurdo, Perth, and Anchorage all did their own version of the same thing—refusing to let the numbers decide the game before puck drop. À la prochaine.
—JM Laflèche, Voice of Hockay
Le Council acknowledges that Matchday 24 occurred. The Pyramid Basin recorded fourteen goals and three lead changes inside the final three minutes of regulation. The record has been updated accordingly.