Recap

Haya battles back for late tie with Ikhlas Sep 14, 2018
by Salman Khalid  

There was much anticipation in the air for opening night at the Hangar. Perhaps it was the change in venue or the return of many superstars and teams to the league, but this was definitely the most anticipated I-slam Week 1 in years. I-slam has, once again, managed to reinvent itself and tread the fine line between competition and brotherhood. Walking into the arena felt like a cross between a Heavyweight title fight and Salat-ul Eid. Everyone seemed genuinely happy to catch up with familiar faces, but also eager to compete against one another in the name of fun and brotherhood.

Both Ikhlas and Haya were undermanned to start the season, with Ikhlas missing Arif Khan's silky hands and Salman Syed's stabilizing presence at Center. Not to be outdone, Haya was missing 4 of their top 5 players, with Waqar Khan, Yasin Admani, Sufyan Shaikh, and Adeel Awan all absent. Farrukh Khan was apparently a game time decision, but was able to start the game for Ikhlas.

The game began on a bit of an emotional note, with Harris Mallick leading the opening du'a several days after the passing of his father. For him to come out and hopefully find some comfort in playing this past Friday was inspiring to both teams, and reminded us all what the league represents. I think I speak for everyone in attendance on Friday that his presence was truly appreciated.

If there was any mystery whether Haya would sit back and conserve energy, it was solved on the first shift as they tried to push the attack and create a scoring chance. On the very next shift, a nice breakout and rush led to offensive pressure from Ikhlas, and with Haya failing to clear the red line, Ibrahim Khan stepped up and fired a hard wrist shot just over the pad of former playoff MVP Yusuf Kapoor to give Ikhlas an early 1-0 lead. Haya tried their best to bounce back, but their best chances came on the power play with Ali Malik getting stymied by Konain Syed from the left slot and with Erfan Bhanapatel having multiple shots blocked by the Ikhlas defenders. Haya was clearly missing a finishing touch as they were able to enjoy some offensive possession, but not able to finish. Their best chance of the first half came when Sadat Malik pinched deep and was able to control and rebound off a point shot and fire a shot on net that Konain miraculously got his pad on to preserve a 1-0 halftime lead for Ikhlas.

The second half started with Ikhlas dictating the pace, and generating a few more quality chances of their own. Their efforts were rewarded when fatigue by the Haya wingers prevented them from clearing the ball at the redline, and Mehmet Rizwanovic picked up the ball along the boards at the blue line, and using his big frame and long reach, cut to the middle of the floor to fire another hard wrist shot through Yusuf Kapoor's five hole. Just like that, Ikhlas were comfortably ahead 2-0 with 10 minutes left.

Instead of becoming demoralized, this deficit seemed to re-ignite the team Haya, as they started to push back with some pressure of their own.  A point shot by was tipped in front and saved by Konain, but I-slam youngster Mustafa Shahbaz made a strong play behind the net to regain possession and find his brother-in-law Salman Khalid in the slot, who slipped a shot under Konain's blocker to cut the lead in half and give Haya life.

A frantic last 7 minutes ensued, with Ikhlas having several chances, including a power-play with 6 minutes remaining that could have iced the game. They were in the Haya zone the entire time, and had 2 to 3 quality chances, but somehow the ball stayed out of the Haya goal (with some help from the goal post). With 3 minutes remaining, Salman Khalid rushed past the Ikhlas blue line and completely whiffed on an attempted wrist shot, and backhanded the ball to the slot where defenseman Mohamed Quraishi was fortuitously wide open and was able to beat Konain to tie the game.

Both teams traded chances in the last 3 minutes, the best of which were an Emmad Khwaja shot from the blue line that nearly missed for Ikhlas, and a classic rush by Haya Defenseman Luqman Arshad that stalled when he was swarmed in the Ikhlas zone. At the final whistle, the score was 2-2, a result that Ikhlas was surely disappointed with, yet felt like a win in the Haya dressing room.

Game notes: Mustafa Shahbaz recorded his first I-slam point in his 4th season. He still somehow has more championships than points.
Mohamed Quraishi also recorded a goal in his first game, joining Mario Lemieux as the only I-slam rookie to score in their first game.

Next up: Haya faces a confident Yaqeen team coming off a big opening night win over Emaan, while Ikhlas faces a tough test in team Sabr, coming off their own impressive opening night victory.

 
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