The second game of the night featured Team Ridha vs Team Ikhlas. These 2 teams were separated by only one point and went 1-1 head-to-head in the regular season. It was predicted to be a tight game with Team Ridha having the slight advantage. With their speed and style of play, many experts also predicted that they were the one that would come out on top and win the championship. Would Team Ikhlas be able to counter their speed and use their veteran leadership with guys like Akib Malik, Luqman Arshad and Coach K to slow them down or would Team Ridha and their core group with Omar Husain, Sufiyan Kazi, Huzaifa Panchbhaya and Rahman Rana be too much for Team Ikhlas to handle? 

The first 2 minutes of the game, Team Ikhlas came out flying taking full advantage of the power play they had to begin the game. They had their opportunities but goalie Ali Khwaja stood tall. Seconds later, Team Ridha took yet another senseless penalty which gave Ihklas another man advantage. But this time, they were able to capitalize as Sufiyan Shaikh over powered his man and got his own rebound with a man on his back and dove to put it past the goalie to give Team Ikhlas the early lead they were looking for. Momentum was clearly on Ikhlas’ side. However, that quickly changed when Rizwan Malik took a questionable high sticking penalty which gave Team Ridha a 4-minute powerplay. It was exactly what they needed to settle their team down and look to even the game. Fortunately, the poise of Imran Alvi and centre Akib Malik who killed the entire 4 minute penalty allowed Team ikhlas to shut down Team Ridha to preserve the 1-0 lead. It looked like momentum was back on their side but yet again, that quickly changed when Ridha’s Omar Husain pounced on a rebound and scored to tie up the game. It was 1-1 after the first half. 

During the intermission, Team Ikhlas was clearly frustrated with their play and needed to regroup. GM Luqman Arshad was forced to keep his composure and allow Coach K and Akib Malik to discuss strategy heading into the second half. It was a chippy affair as Ikhlas’ Abdul Rahim Manjra and Ridha’s Sufyan Kazi both got thrown into the box for unsportsmanlike conduct. Ridha looked like to be in complete control with Manjra in the box. After block shot, after block shot, after block shot by Akib Malik, teammate Zaid Toorawa though was sent on a breakaway and went forehead to backhand to squeeze a goal through the pads of Ali Khwaja to give Team Ikhlas a 2-1 lead! It looked like Zaid’s goal would stand to be the game winner but Ridha’s Rahman Rana had other ideas. He single handily put his team on his back and made a nifty play to create space for himself and slap it bar down with a lot of traffic in front to tie up the game! The second half ended with a score of 2-2 needing overtime to decide which team would advance to face Team Haya. It was desperation mode for both teams. Which team will score? Which team will advance? Which player will make the “big play?” Which team will taste defeat? Within the first minute, the “Big play” was made from Team Ridha as Ikhlas’ Zubair Wahid was cross checked from behind and was sent to the floor. Panic and frustration was boiling on Team Ikhlas’ bench as no penalty was even given on the play. With their top scorer unable to continue in the game,    Team Ridha was looking to capitalize. Captain Akib Malik was not going to let Team Ihklas go out without a fight. On the next very next shift, Ibrahim Khan was able to use his speed to gain the offensive zone which allowed Mohammad Hamoud to rip the ball from the point to keep the ball in the offensive zone. Manjra would cause havoc resulting in a turnover that left Akib Malik all alone in the slot to roof it top corner over the glove of Khwaja to give Team Ikhlas a birth to the semi finals!