Thunderbirds Outrun Black Bears in 14-9 Victory
Old Hat; Confidence
Photo Credit: Georgia Swarm
Shorthanded, Ryan Terefenko completed a penalty kill shift, moved the ball to the Halifax Thunderbirds’ (6-4) offensive zone, and passed by teammate Clarke Petterson coming off the bench. He appeared to exchange the ball to Petterson, which is what Ottawa Black Bears (5-5) goalie Zach Higgins and most of the defense believed, tracking Petterson as he made his way down the right side. With a yawning opening available, Terefenko wired the ball from the benches, successfully completing the hidden ball trick to open up the scoring in the contest.
It was that kind of night for the Thunderbirds, who weathered a third-quarter push from the home team but kept in control for most of Friday’s contest at Canadian Tire Centre. They won their fourth consecutive game, 14-9.
Larson Sundown cashed in on the very next power play shift for Ottawa, the last time the game would be tied until late in the third quarter. Colton Armstrong used a transition seal from Terefenko to put his squad back on top, and Randy Staats capped the frame’s scoring with a low whip.
“I don’t think anybody is happy with how we started that game,” Black Bears head coach Dan Ladouceur said, “from fundamentals right out, we left a bunch of loose balls on the floor, gave them repossessions, dropping and missing passes in the offensive zone, and giving the ball away. We know they’re a team that transitions. Obviously, they got a few transition goals here tonight, and that was a big focus of ours, and we didn’t execute that part well because we didn’t handle the ball well.”
A wonky pick worked in the Black Bears’ favor in the second quarter, giving Connor Kearnan just enough room on the crease to get vertical and the ball past Warren Hill. But right when they seemed to have momentum on their side, Halifax retaliated, using their relentless transition to take advantage of the Black Bears slow sub game or fortuitous rebounds. After two more Thunderbirds goal, Staats netted his hat trick in transition, and Terefenko did the same. Reilly O’Connor potted a power play marker from the middle of the penalty kill square to cut the run, the visiting club up 7-3 at halftime.
Coming out of the locker room, the Black Bears seized control of the game for a few minutes. The defense boxed out Halifax’s shooters, making them settle for long-range shot attempts. Out the O door, they were more physical with their picks and did better catching on passes in the two-man game.
“I thought the entrance to the second half was exactly what it needed to be,” Ladouceur said. “Ball was moving, we had better pace on offense, fundamentals were better, and defensively kept pushing pace on them, getting the ball up the floor, getting it to the O, got ourselves that lead.”
Sundown kicked off the scoring with a pair of goals to secure his hat trick. A violent goal from Jeff Teat, ricocheting quickly off the floor past the goal line and crossbar to appear like maybe it never actually crossed, was unsuccessfully challenged by Thunderbirds head coach Mike Accursi. Teat tied the game up two minutes later, and Jacob Dunbar gave the Black Bears their only lead of the game with his iso dodge.
Their 8-7 lead was short-lived, however. A 3-on-2 transition chance was cashed in by Dawson Theede off the bench, and Petterson’s second goal of the game restored the lead for Halifax.
The two-goal Thunderbirds run became a four-goal Thunderbirds run in the fourth quarter. Down 11-8, Teat’s hat trick on the power play showed fight in the team trying to make a late run, but the wind was taken out of their sails moments later when a long ricochet off the post from Teat ended up in front of Nonkon Thompson, playing his first game all season, for an easy fast break opportunity he capitalized on.
Ottawa tried an extra attacker with three minutes left in regulation, but Halifax was more than happy to weather a 6-on-5 and take advantage of the cage bereft of a netminder. Terefenko recorded his hat trick, and Thompson emphatically punctuated the game with an empty netter from near mid-floor as Higgins pulled up heading back to the cage. The final buzzer sounded, and the Thunderbirds secured their fourth consecutive win, 14-9.
Staats led the way in scoring with 5 PTS (4G, 1A), followed by Terefenko with 4 PTS (3G, 1A). Hill made 40 saves to finish the night with an .816 Sv% and the win.
“It’s just confidence,” Accursi said about Hill’s turnaround from a tumultuous start to the 2024-25 campaign. “We had some good conversations, some coaches meetings after our first six games, which was a disappointing start for us, 2-4, and we just relayed our confidence in him and his performance. Since that point, he’s really turned it on and has been very, very steady for us back there. It starts with him. He plays confident, our defense plays confident in front of him, we’re able to push a little more in transition, and our offense can score goals on any given night.”
Teat’s 5 PTS (3G, 2A) were the most for Ottawa, followed by Kiel Matisz’s 4 assists. Higgins was busy all game long, making 47 saves for a .797 Sv%.
Old Hat
Hat tricks are old news. Scoring a hat trick of hat tricks — three goals a game in three consecutive games — is all the rage right now if you’re an American import spearheading the Thunderbirds run game.
Terefenko’s tear has been jaw-dropping this past month, as he’s instantly vaulted himself to the top of the NLL Transition Player of the Year conversation. While his instincts in transition have jumped up a few levels from his previous seasons, his defense and box IQ have also noticeably grown in the first half of this season, another valuable defensive weapon on a team filled with them.
“I don’t know how he can’t be,” Accursi said when asked if Terefenko was the frontrunner for the award. “I know Ian MacKay’s had a good year, but he’s played a lot out the front door. Terry just continues to get better and better, and he’s so deadly in transition. He’s been an X-factor for us this year, that’s for sure.”
Terefenko is the tip of the transition spear, as the Thunderbirds collectively run the most in the NLL and are the best at it, surpassing the Vancouver Warriors in that area two weeks back and handily increasing that lead. It takes pressure off the settled offense and destroys opposing momentum.
“We tried to build this team around speed and athleticism and big, strong guys,” Accursi said. “I think our transition comes up from us playing really good defense. We play good defense, we’re not afraid to break out, and we have lots of confidence in our guys to push in transition. It’s something we work on in every single practice religiously. It’s been an important part this year. We need to be on the plus side of transition.
“Last year, we were a lot on the negative side, and teams were running against us. It also makes other teams adjust. Offensively, late in the clock, they’re more worried about getting run against than actually shooting on net. So, it works a lot of different ways when you have a good tranny like that.”
Confidence
Friday’s loss was the sixth game this season where the Black Bears scored single digits in goals. Six of them were settled, and the other three were on the power play, as the man-advantage was perfect on the night. No transition markers were scored despite having a handful of solid chances, as Hill was perfect on fast breaks, extending the Thunderbirds all-time record against the Black Bears/Riptide franchise to 8-0. That lack of success was certainly on the Black Bears minds Friday.
“We talked about it, and we said, ‘We owe these guys,’” Ladouceur said postgame. “This was an opportunity to do something in the standings and to right that wrong as far as the record against these guys, really important for this organization for that. I think we gave ourselves a chance at that in the second half, but you can’t spot those guys four goals.”
Last Saturday’s 18-spot against the Albany FireWolves was an aberration for the Black Bears. Their lineup is filled with dangerous shooters that have been unable to consistently produce game in and game out. And while injuries have played a part — O’Connor strained his calf in the second quarter last night, and Teat appeared to suffer from cramping later in the second half — they don’t account for how discombobulated this offense can look at times.
“We’ve proven that we can do it (score often), too,” Ladouceur said. “I don’t think it’s throw the baby out with the bathwater at this point, either. It’s a consistent execution from everybody. We need the righties attacking and being threats. That opens up space for our lefties. We need healthy bodies up there.”
Confidence was a common refrain from the Black Bears head coach postgame. They were 5-5 at this point in the season in 2023-24, but this season’s team is clearly better, especially with Higgins anchoring the back end. The offense struggling to find the back of the net consistently has plagued this franchise for years now, but the talent out the front door is undeniable, as is the winning pedigree many of the players bring in. Getting them to buy in and do the little things right every game has to be the focus, and letting Friday’s performance take away from where the team sits in the standings will do more harm than good.
“We’re still in a good spot,” Ladouceur concluded. “Again, that’s part of the whole positivity and the confidence is that we’re still sitting at .500. We’re still in a good spot to make a run for playoffs with our schedule in front of us. We’re still there. It’s just getting the guys to be like, ‘Yes, we are all in.’ I think a lot of it has to do with how everybody’s feeling at this midway point injury-wise, etc. I think the guys know we’re in a good spot. The game against Georgia’s going to be tough. They want to run, as well, so we have to clean up that transition portion. Yeah, we’re in a good spot, we’ve just got to continue to play with that sort of swagger and confidence and just keep working on the guys, get them believing in it.”