After a one game weekend the TSI World Bees were unable to shut down the Leeds Knights after a 5-2 loss against the Knights at the Slough Ice Arena on Sunday evening. 

Both teams found themselves short-benched for various reasons but the Bees also saw some returning players back into their lineup after injury as well as the additions of Joe Baird and Marcus Mitchell.

A good start to the first period for the Bees after coming away with the opening period face-off win. Leeds gained possession of the puck for a while and were able to test Brython Preece, who was in goal for the Bees. Mac Howlett opened the scoring for the Knights at 9:39 with Bailey Conger and Matt Haywood being awarded assists on the goal and this line proved itself to be a key part of the Knights’ night with Mac Howlett and Matt Haywood producing many opportunities. The Bees found themselves short-handed through Marcel Balaz being forced to serve a 2 minute penalty for Hooking at 17:34. Bailey Conger scored his first goal of the night, after receiving an assist on the first goal, at 18:15 with Bow Neely and Matt Haywood receiving assists on the goal. This saw us to the end of the first period with Brython Preece facing 8 shots on goal while Sam Gospel faced 9 shots on goal. 

A stronger start to the second period for the Bees as they were battling for puck possession straight off of the face-off to start the period and were able to battle their way through the Knights’ defence to try to close the gap on the scoreboard. Early success in this period though for the Knights as Matt Barron was able to get the puck to the back of the Bees’ net at 22:15, but at 27:12, Josh Smith ended the Bees’ silence for the first 27 minutes of the game with a goal that Dan Rose and Oliver Knaggs both assisted on. Between the 2 goals scored words were exchanged between Liam Morris and James Archer with both players being forced to serve 5 minute Fighting penalties each.  After this first goal the Bees were able to regroup and come together to test Sam Gospel with chances from Marcel Balaz and a few chances for Aiden Doughty. The Knights then were forced to kill a 2 minute Tripping penalty served by Bailey Conger, and the Bees were able to take advantage with a power play goal scored by Captain Stuart Mogg at 31:30, with Marcel Balaz gaining an assist on the goal. But after Bailey Conger returned to the ice and then Gianni Vitali forced to sit a 2 minute Tripping penalty, Bailey Conger was able to get the puck to the back of the net to score the 4th Knights goal and their 2nd power play goal of the night. 

Going into the third and final period, the Bees were desperate to push to at least get one point for their efforts already throughout the game and were able to keep pushing up the ice to test the Leeds defence to get to Sam Gospel’s goal as well as Sam Gospel as they were able to get past. The Bees kept trying to push to close the gap on the scoreboard but were unable to get to the back of the net in the game but Bailey Conger secured his hat trick on the night with an unassisted goal to secure the 2 points for the Knights. Brython Preece faced a total of 30 shots on goal on the night while Sam Gospel faced a total of 27 shots on goal.