When the Huntsville Hawks step on the floor in their first game of their 2016 Junior C lacrosse season Saturday night, they will have one goal in mind. That is to make it to the Eastern Conference finals. A championship would be icing on the cake.
Last year the Hawks were eliminated in the second round after winning 10 of their 16 league games.
“We have 12 returning players which should help us a lot,” said Joe O’Halloran who is heading up a three-man coaching team which includes Ryan Bennetts, who managed the team last year, and Caleb MacKay who coached the Midget Hawks last year. Six players on that Midget team have moved up to Junior.
The season opener against Whitby Warriors will be a good test of the team’s strengths and weaknesses. The Hawks were late getting on to the floor due to previous commitments at the Jack Bionda arena. O’Halloran likes what he sees so far and says there will be no lack of motivation to get off to a quick start. “We had a spirited playoff with the Warriors last year in the first round and had to win the last two games to advance to the second round.”
O’Halloran will be focusing on the offense while Bennetts will be working on the team’s defensive strategies. Mackay’s role will be to work with both to adjust to game situations as they come up. Right now O’Halloran thinks the offense will be the strength of the Club.
Team officials had to scramble when they were told by regular goaltender Robbie Moore that he would not be available . Moore suffered a concussion in a game with the Hawks last year and another while playing field lacrosse at Queen’s University. He had decided to call it a career. The situation became more concerning when Owen Dougan of Barrie decided to pursue a military career and Alex Wagner was over age.
That opened the job for 18-year old Mitchell Wagner of Orangeville who played Intermediate A lacrosse last year. Zach Hubbard of Clarington was also invited to try out for the team. Wagner is expected to be in goal for the team’s first game.
He’s been there, playing against Niagara on the Lake in the finals last year for Orangeville. It’s not like we are bringing in a midget player to fill the void. And until we see him in the first game we’re not sure, but we have been forced to put our eggs in his basket for the time being. Hopefully he runs with it and we all get the benefit.
Coach O’Halloran on filling the goal-tending void
Wagner will have some experienced players in front of him. There are 12 returning players from last year’s team and the Hawks plan to carry a 23-man roster.
Two players, however, Tyler Coleman and Brandon Quan both of Huntsville, won’t be back because they are over age. Quan was the team’s captain last year and racked up 51 points including 13 goals in regular season play. He added another 14 points including six goals in the playoffs. Teagan Meredith and Brodie Muckler also won’t be back. Meredith has chosen to play in Orillia where his father is coaching and Muckler has graduated from school and has a job in the Kitchener area. Parker Bowman a graduating Midget player from Bracebridge, who played for the Hawks on six occasions last year, has also gone to Orillia.
“We’re excited about our chances. What we really want is to beat the Clarington Shamrocks this year. They’ve beaten us up the last two years and we’ve taken it to heart,” says O’Halloran. “The first step starts Saturday against Whitby.”
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