AIHL· Season 2026
Sydney Bears thump Perth Thunder 10-5 at Macquarie Ice Rink as Nick Seitz scores four goals to clinch a Goodall Cup playoff berth for the first time in 2026.
Match Videos
Match Analysis
AI SummaryHow it unfolded
Sydney came flying out of the neutral zone. Kristaps Sadovski opened the scoring at 2:26 (assist: N. Moncrieff), Anthony Wardlaw doubled the lead at 6:46 (T. Landa, R. Nalos) and Tomas Landa added a shorthanded strike at 8:40 (B. Chambers, F. Withey) — three goals inside the first ten minutes. Perth halved the deficit when Keanu Webster scored at 13:31 (P. Sucher, F. Plouffe), but the Bears carried a 3–1 lead into the break.
The second period was a rout. Nick Seitz scored just 14 seconds in, Wardlaw added another at 0:48, and Seitz struck twice more — at 5:49 and 6:52 — to make it 7–1. Brenton Breault pulled one back for Perth at 16:12 (V. Tenosalmi, K. Webster), leaving the score 7–2 after two.
Perth showed fight early in the third. Felix Plouffe scored at 2:43 (P. Hrehorcak, J. Ruck) to cut the gap to four. But Seitz answered with his fourth of the night at 5:41 (F. Withey, A. Wardlaw), and Lukas Herrmann made it 9–3 just 11 seconds later (Seitz, Chambers). Patrik Hrehorcak (9:34) and Maksim Lyashenko (15:31) replied for Perth, but Sadovski wrapped up the Bears' tenth goal at 11:37 (Chambers, Seitz).
The turning point
The game effectively ended inside the first 55 seconds of the second period. Seitz's goal 14 seconds in and Wardlaw's strike 34 seconds later turned a manageable 3–1 deficit into a 5–1 hole for Perth before most fans had settled back into their seats. Sydney never looked back.
Key performers
Nick Seitz (Sydney Bears) — 4 goals, 2 assists. The six-point night was the individual performance of the round. Seitz scored in all three periods and set up goals for Herrmann and Sadovski.
Anthony Wardlaw (Sydney Bears) — 2 goals, 1 assist. Opened the scoring in the first and added another 48 seconds into the second.
Kristaps Sadovski (Sydney Bears) — 2 goals (including the opener), 1 assist.
Bryce Chambers (Sydney Bears) — 3 assists (including the shorthanded helper on Landa's goal), a quiet but efficient playmaking night.
Keanu Webster (Perth Thunder) — 1 goal, 1 assist. One of Perth's brighter performers in a tough loss.
Player of the match: Nick Seitz.
By the numbers — interpreted
Shots on goal finished 46–41 in Sydney's favour (46–41 according to IHNA), but the period splits tell the real story: Sydney outshot Perth 3–1 on the scoreboard in each of the first two periods. The Bears' 10-goal haul came from eight different scorers, illustrating depth that had been missing through parts of the season — Sydney entered the weekend with a −10 goal differential. The fixture's H2H history now sits at 22–19 in Perth's favour after 41 meetings, with 90% of games featuring both teams on the scoresheet — a trend this match emphatically continued.
What it means
Sydney Bears (46 points, 29 GP) leapfrog Perth (45 points, 27 GP) into fourth place and clinch a Goodall Cup finals berth for 2026. Perth had already qualified but drop a spot in the standings with Melbourne Mustangs (59 points, 29 GP) now sitting top. The Bears' form — back-to-back wins over Central Coast Rhinos (4–2 on 9 August) and now this result — has them peaking at the right time. Sydney next face the Melbourne Ice on 16 August; Perth travel to Newcastle to face the Northstars on the same day.
Verdict
A statement win from a team that needed it. The Bears' first-period blitz and second-period knockout demonstrated the firepower they'll carry into the finals. Perth, already qualified, will want to tighten up defensively before the postseason, having conceded 16 goals across their last two games.
Match Events
Key match events between Sydney Bears and Perth — 15 goals and 0 cards recorded during the match.
R. Nalos
F. Withey
F. Plouffe
K. Sadovski
N. Moncrieff
N. Moncrieff
K. Hayashi
K. Webster
J. Ruck
A. Wardlaw
B. Chambers
J. Ruck
N. Seitz
V. Tenosalmi
Rivalry since 2012
Sydney Bears vs Perth Head to Head Results· 41
Sydney Bears and Perth have met 41 times — Sydney Bears won 19, Perth won 22, with 0 draws. Their rivalry dates back to 2012. Perth leads the head-to-head with 22 victories from 41 meetings. A combined 278 goals have been scored across these fixtures, averaging 6.78 per match (135 for the home side, 143 for the visitors). Both teams scored in 37 matches (90%). Over 2.5 goals landed in 40 games (98%), making it a fixture that tends to produce goals. The highest-scoring encounter finished 8–4 in 2017.
Statistics are for informational purposes only. Past performance does not guarantee future results.
API data: 16 Aug 2026