The Escadia Newcastle Northstars launched into the finals weekend with a strong start. Opening with a 6-1 win over Brisbane Lightning on Friday night, things looked positive. With six goals from six players (Darge, Skachkov, Annesley, Taylor, Tallberg and Kubara), the team showcased their depth and drive in their fight for the Goodall Cup.
On the back of Friday’s win, the fans were ready for a big game against the minor premiers. Backing up the next day on Saturday, the Northstars took on the Melbourne Ice. However, 2025 was not the year for the Northstars with Melbourne Ice defeating Newcastle 4-6. The loss saw the end oftheir Goodall Cup campaign.
On the back foot early, the Northstars found themselves down 0-3 until Yevgeni Skachkov scored the first for Newcastle 5 minutes into the second period. The crowd would be on their feet moments later when Hunter Ellen scored the team’s second and Skachkov getting another goal to equalise.
The crowd was energised with a competitive game at hand, but Melbourne dug deep to score two more times before the second break.
As the game entered the third period, with the Northstars down by two, the travelling fans rallied and got behind the team. The Ice would score their sixth early in the third period, though, and the game slipped further away. The Northstars responded shortly after, but couldn’t keep going and would fall short, losing 4-6.
Head Coach Kevin Noble shared, “It was a big weekend. Our guys played amazing on Friday night. They played like champions and never gave up.”
“This time of year, it’s one bounce here, once bounce there, and we had tons of looks out there tonight. We got to Ishida like we wanted to, we had them calling timeouts after three in a row, but sometimes it just doesn’t go your way.”
“We did a lot of good things, I just thought we were a little short at the end of the day. Not by lack of effort, skill or being a lesser team, tonight the bounces went their way and they’re a very opportunistic team. They have a lot of forwards that really push the pace, and we knew we had to manage pucks offensively and not give them fast break opportunities.”
“We had to play below the top of the circles and make them play in the D zone, and tonight we did a pretty good job of that. They’re a team that thrives off opportunistic play and they’re good at the transition.”
“This team performed really well and competed hard all year. We had a great buy-in from the group. We started slow but once we got our full team late in the season we were good, we were impressive and it’s been a great group to coach.”
The Newcastle Northstars will return in 2026.
ADRENALINE
NORTHSTARS
BRAVE
ICE
MUSTANGS
THUNDER
LIGHTNING
RHINOS
