Saturday 9th February

Planet Ice Arena, Peterborough

Cambridge Light Blues    9

Warwick Panthers             1

The Blues ice hockey team returned to winning ways with a crushing victory over the Warwick Panthers in Peterborough on Saturday.

Missing captain Thor Richardson and two other key defencemen, the Blues knew they needed a strong start, and set about dominating from the outset as Bryan Thirsk opened the scoring with a beautiful solo effort, followed not long after by an end-to-end rush on the penalty kill by Blues leading scorer Kyle Maggard. 

Warwick scored a power play goal mid-way through the first period, but Cambridge answered back in force, led by Oscar Wilsby whose slapshot off the faceoff picked the corner. Penalty trouble was a concern for the Blues early on but the defence and goaltender Carl Mazurek held strong, securing a 4 – 1 lead going into the second period.

Smart, physical, old-fashioned ice hockey was the name of the game for the second and third period as the Blues' attack wore down Warwick’s defence, a string of goals launching Cambridge into a decisive lead. Two more goals in the second period and three in the third finished the contest, Cambridge emerging as decisive 9 – 1 victors.

Warwick captain Veit Dinges said that the Blues were the toughest team they had played, crediting their consistently hard hits and ability to finish their checks, while citing their superior discipline as the critical difference between the two sides.

Oscar Wilsby took the Player of the Game award with 4 goals, while Kyle Maggard continued to impress with a hat trick. The Light Blues face off against Warwick again this Sunday, and as thoughts turn towards Varsity, the signs are good as Cambridge hope to complete a resounding double over a side that tied with Oxford earlier in the season.