Coors Giants Book Their Place In Cup Semi’s

Posted on Saturday, October 11th, 2008 at 10:06 pm

The Coors Belfast Giants tonight booked their place in the semi-finals of the Challenge Cup after defeating the Sheffield Steelers by a score of 5-2 in the buzzing Odyssey Arena in front of 4,000+ noisy home town fans.

Defenceman Tyler Howells opened the scoring at 7:08 of the first period with a cannon from the blueline on the Giants league best powerplay unit. Two minutes later, Andrew Martin made it 2-0 for the Giants, finishing off a goal mouth pass from linemate Bobby Robins. The Steelers pulled one back thanks to Jonathan Phillips, at 10:17, which is the way the period ended. In a fast paced opening frame, it was the play of both goalies that stole the show, with the Steelers Jody Lehman facing 18 shots and Stevie Lyle facing 12 in net for the Giants.

The second period saw the Giants extend their lead to 4-1, thanks to goals from Paul Deniset and Bobby Robins, before the Steelers clawed one back off the stick of a superb individual effort by Nathan Gillies to make it 4-2. But the Giants weren’t done yet, and once again it was Deniset who put the final nail in the coffin making it 5-2 with only two minutes remaining in the second period.

The third period brought plenty of chances, but the scoreline stood thanks to more great saves at both ends of the ice. Lehman had his busiest night of the season, facing 45 shots from the Giants, while Lyle faced 33. Next up it’s back to league action in Cardiff on Sunday Night.

Period Scores: 2-1, 3-0, 0-0
Penalty Mins: 16-10
Powerplay: Bel 1/5 - Shef 1/8
Shots On: Stevie Lyle 33 - Jody Lehman 45
Referee: Andy Carson

• Giants Steel 2 Points In Sheffield… - 11th January 2009
• Giants Drop 3-2 Decision To Steelers - 30th December 2008
• Sheffield Steel Victory With Last Minute Heartbreaker - 21st January 2009
• Coors Belfast Giants Win Home Opener… - 6th September 2008
• Giants Top Steelers In Shootout Win - 21st November 2008