Knights Score Five Straight, Including Vengis Hat-Trick, In 5-2 Win Over Pitbulls

By Jake Clements

17-year-old Edgars Vengis scored his first senior hat-trick, helping his Leeds side come back from 2-0 down to win at Elland Road.

Jake Bricknell put the away side ahead with his 29th of the season before John Dunbar doubled the Pitbulls’ lead midway through the second period.

But it was all Leeds from that point on, quarterbacked by their youth.

Vengis, born in Latvia, halved the deficit with his first before Danny Harrison scored his first ever NIHL goal just 1:49 later to restore parity.

Vengis completed his hat trick with the next two goals of the game before Canadian Bow Neely rounded off the scoring late in the third.

Fresh off their first win ever against the Leeds Knights, the Pitbulls started where they had left off the night before.

Scorer of the overtime winner last night, Bayley Harewood, glided past the challenge of two Knights before playing a beautifully weighted backhand pass to Bricknell, who buried a wrister past Sam Gospel in the home side’s net.

St Louis native Tommy Nappier was the busier of the two netminders early. The 27-year-old made a number of pad saves, with the highlight being a full-stretch save on Bissonnette, keeping the scoreline in favour of the away side.

Five minutes into the second period, Dunbar extended the Pitbulls’ lead.

Looking for their first back-to-back four-point weekend, Bricknell gained the zone and circled the net before playing the puck back to his compatriot, Butler, inside the left face-off dot.

Butler’s one-timer was deflected seamlessly into the goal by Dunbar, who picked up his 17th of the season.

But just 42 seconds later, the Knights were back in it. 

A large slice of luck was involved, as Nappier got a big piece of Neely’s shot, but the rebound flew into the air and landed in the blue paint.

Vengis was on hand to tap the puck over the goal line and restore some life into the arena.

The fans inside ‘The Castle’ didn’t have to wait long to be back up on their feet again.

Finlay Bradon collected a loose puck and drove into the Pitbulls’ zone. His close-range effort was spilt by Nappier, and rookie Danny Harrison was on hand to push the puck through the five-hole of the Pitbulls’ netminder to tie the game up at two apiece.

Two goals in 1:49 minutes had completely nullified all the good work the travelling Pitbulls had done in the previous 25 minutes of game time.

A flurry of chances came for the home side, who were looking to grab their first lead of the evening.

Former Pitbull Owen Sobchak saw a snapshot cannon back off the post after the 32-year-old Canadian was left alone in the slot.

But the breakthrough came soon after.

Liam Peyton, who joined from Dalhousie University in the summer, fought hard along the boards to jar the puck loose before firing an effort on goal.

Nappier made the initial save, but Vengis was the most awake to the situation and shovelled a shot through Nappier to give the home side their first lead of the evening.

The second period finished with no extra scoring.

The Knights have won 90% of their fixtures this season when conceding two goals or less, and they were on course to continue that streak through 40 minutes in Leeds.

Just over four minutes into the third, Vengis had his third and Leeds’ fourth.

Peyton fights hard behind the goal and plays the puck in front for the academy product to backhand into the back of the net to spark jubilant celebrations from the home side.

Hats flew onto the rink to commend the young man’s performance, his first senior hat trick, which doubled his entire goal tally on the season in just 18:14!

The Pitbulls had some half chances, but Gospel stood strong in between the pipes and didn’t allow a comeback to be kickstarted by the Pitbulls.

Calgary-born Neely rounded off the scoring with eight minutes remaining in the game. 

Harrison, fresh off his first NIHL point, kept the puck under relentless pressure from Pitbulls defenders. Butler managed to dispossess the 27-year-old but could only poke it onto the stick of Neely, who swept the puck into a wide-open goal from inside the left face-off dot.

Nappier was kept busy to the end, somehow keeping a sure goal out off the stick of Matt Bissonnette, with the latter looking up to the heavens after the away side’s netminder managed to squeeze the puck between his legs before it could cross the goal goalline.

The buzzer sounded, bringing an end to the Pitbulls’ three-game winning streak, having fallen victim to a comeback performance from the Knights.

Ales Padalek’s men return next Saturday to play the Hull Seahawks at Planet Ice Bristol.

It is the club’s “Pink the Rink Breast Cancer Now” night in what is a must-see event in Bristol this weekend.

A must-win game for the Pitbulls against a Seahawks side they’ve yet to lose to this season, having scored 17 goals against the Hull outfit in the two games this season.

Haven’t bought your ticket yet?

Grab yours from the link below and come cheer your team on to victory at the Pound!

https://iceaccount.co.uk/bristol-pitbulls/event-tickets/?event_id=7985&stage=1