Pelicans surge to 5-2 U20 win over Ilves in Lahti

The home side controlled the match from the opening minutes. They built a decisive lead with goals from Aleksi Kilpeläinen, Alvar Soisalo and Aatu Pohjalainen.

Ilves travelled with a thin lineup, missing regulars Aleksi Koponen, Juho Nyberg, Leevi Pelkonen and Jalmari Melanen. They pulled one back through Rasmus Rinne early in the second but could not sustain the fight, despite a nearly one-minute two-man power play.

The result halted a brief positive run for Ilves; earlier this month Miska Liljeberg had scored twice in a 5-3 win over Kärpät their third straight victory. They have recently had to cope with a short bench on the road as in Espoo.

Jaakko Uotila made several key saves to deny Ilves chances. Kilpeläinen’s second-period brace and Eerik Kolehmainen’s empty-netter at 57:02 sealed the win for Pelicans. Miska Liljeberg added a late consolation for Ilves. Ilves' U20s resume play at home against SaiPa at Hakametsä on Saturday, 17 October at 16:30.