Mar 14, 2017 | Jen Fletcher | 574 views
Finishing Strong
The Hawks last season before Playdowns took place on Sunday afternoon in Waterloo. The Hawks played strong and won 3-0!
The Hawks were still without Ryan Silva and Michael McIntyre, but Tyler Caswell was back in the line-up and playing at centre. Maeve Haskell and Tristan Nagel were back in the line-up filling in on the defensive end.
The Hawks controlled the puck first, but unfortunately hit the post on their first shot attempt. That didn't stop the Hawks keep the pedal on the gas offensively. While in the Wolves' end, Lucas Sousa intercepted a clearing attempt, held onto the puck and was able to draw a penalty. With the man advantage, the Hawks capitalized. Liam Lapierre passed the puck up the board to Justin Vandervelde. Vandervelde threw the pass across ice to Ryland MacPherson who was breaking the zone through centre ice. MacPherson went in alone on the breakaway and scored!!
With six minutes left in the first period, the Hawks kept the pressure on. Nevin Noble received a pass along the boards and threw it to centre ice right to Quintin Douglas's stick. The Hawks were also moving the puck well in the offensive zone. Macpherson and Ben McGowan were cycling the puck down low and using their defence at the point to keep the puck moving and get shots on net.
Less than two minutes into the second the Hawks found themselves up 2-0. Catching Waterloo on a line change, Tyler Caswell tipped the puck to winger Andrew Quarrie. Quarrie tipped it over to Camden Schaefer and the Hawks were headed into the offensive zone for a 3-0. Schaefer took the puck in and put the shot five-hole. The Hawks continued to move the puck in the second. From the blue line, Nathan Lahey was getting shots on net and was making good deep passes. Lahey also had another strong game defensively, chasing the puck down on both sides of the ice in the defensive zone and clearing the puck strong. His partner, Maeve Haskell did a great job tying up the player in front of the net. Liam Lapierre also had some great passes from the blue line in the second. One pass in particular was a perfect pass in front for a tip. Soon enough those tips and shots from the point are going to go in. Waterloo had a great scoring chance in the second but Parker Campbell broke up the play by attacking and taking the man.
In the third period the Wolves really pushed offensively. The Hawks had goalie Blake Fletcher behind them stopping everything that came his way. In the third Fletcher made a great first save with his pad and then followed the rebound and slid across for the second shot attempt, gloving it. MacPherson got his second goal of the game in the third, once again on the power play. Campbell fed the puck up the boards to Ben McGowan and MacPherson were off to the races on a two on one. McGowan held the puck and drew the Wolves' defenceman in, which is when he fed it over to MacPherson. Ryland rocketed the puck over the goalie's blocker, putting the Hawks up 3-0 with five minutes left.
Late in the game the Wolves pulled their goalie and it was 6 on 4 for two minutes while the Hawks killed a penalty. The Hawks did a great job killing off the penalty and clearing the puck. Out of the penalty box, the Hawks were still down a man while Waterloo had the empty net. The Wolves were able to keep the Haws from getting the empty net goal, and kept the pressure in the offensive zone. Liam Lapierre showed his soccer skills when he knocked the puck down with his skate, kicked it to his stick, and then shot the puck out of the zone.
This win put the Hawks in first place. Two hours later the regular season games were all done and the Hawks were tied for first in points with Waterloo White. Unfortunately, due to the first tie-breaker being points earned from wins, the Hawks were moved down to second place to take on Brantford in the first round.
Firefighter Helmets in this game went to Ryland MacPherson and Matthew Klassen.