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Drolet hat-trick pushes Northstars to top of AIHL

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With Francis Drolet starring, the Newcastle Northstars grabbed top spot on the Australian Ice Hockey League (AIHL) ladder after its 9-3 win over the Melbourne Ice at the Hunter Ice Skating Stadium on Saturday night.

The Canadian led the team with three goals and two assists, with line-mates Daniel Berno and Richard Tesarik picking up four points each.

The victory was another come-from-behind effort as Melbourne struck first.

And, at one point in the first period, the visitors surged ahead 3-1, belying their last position on the table for the 2022 season.

The second, however, produced a quick form reversal, with the Northstars scoring five consecutive goals to gain a 7-3 advantage.

Newcastle continued to carry the play through the third period, possessing the puck for long periods and picking up an additional two to finish the game with a 9-3 victory.

Following the weekend’s results, the Northstars boast 30 competition points from 11 fixtures, ahead of the CBR Brave on 28.

The winning streak and renewed interest in the sport following two years of interruption during the pandemic has attracted record crowds, with an atmosphere rivalling league finals throughout Newcastle’s home games.

Come from behind wins were certainly providing motivation for the locals to cheer their team to victory.

Assistant coach Amelia Matherson acknowledged the slow starts were a problem for the Northstars.

“We started slow tonight, and Melbourne Ice came out hard,” she said.

“They rocked us a little in the first period but we had a good reset in the break and played Northstars hockey in the second.”

Bench coach Kevin Noble kept the message positive in the change room, too.

The fresh start reinvigorated the team, along with Charlie Smart relieving Ethan Spelde for the second period in net.

Smart kept a clean sheet, as did Spelde when he returned for the third period to see out the showdown.

The slow starts have been a pattern for the Northstars in the 2022 season.

Fortunately, it hasn’t hurt their results with only the one loss so far.

“It’s nice to have a reputation as a third period team,” Matherson said.

“But, there will matches when you’re too far behind to catch up.

“We might change something like our pre-warmup in order to start our games better in the future.”

The Northstars travel to Sydney next to play the Ice Dogs at Macquarie on 9 July.

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