Thunderbirds fall short against Warriors

Apr 6, 2024

(VANCOUVER, BC) April 6, 2024 – The Halifax Thunderbirds dropped a road contest to the Vancouver Warriors, losing 15-13 at Rogers Arena on Friday night. 

The Thunderbirds got out to a strong start, opening the game on a 4-0 run, fuelled by goals from Ryan Benesch, Austin Shanks, Johnny Pearson, and Trevor Smyth. Ryan Martel scored Vancouver’s lone goal of the opening frame with one second remaining in the first to make it 4-1 for the visitors through 15 minutes. 

Shanks kept it rolling to open the second, but Martel got his second of the night. He was quickly answered by Cody Jamieson and Randy Staats, who got on the board with his first after being activated earlier in the day. 

But Vancouver ended the third with three of the final four goals. Kyle Killen and Kevin Crowley went back to back, and despite a Shanks rebuttal to get a first-half hat trick, Martel got his hat-trick goal with 5:54 left in the second to make it an 8-5 Halifax lead at halftime. 

In the second half, Keegan Bal began to put his stamp on the game. He scored two straight to open the third, and after the teams traded a pair of goals, Bal and Steph Charbonneau knotted the game up at 10 with two straight markers in the final five minutes of the third. 

Going into a crucial fourth for both teams, Adam Charalambides picked up his first of the night to put the Warriors into the lead for the first time in the game. Staats got it back with a great shot off the bar and in. But Bal capped off his night with two straight transition goals. Staring at a 13-11 deficit, Petterson pulled the Thunderbirds within one, but that would be as close as they would get. Martel got the insurance goal back and Owen Grant put the game away with an empty netter. 

With the loss, Halifax sits at 9-8 going into the last game of their season. They’ll have a bye week before returning to The Nest on Apr 20 for a matchup with the Colorado Mammoth.