Main photo: The Huntsville Tyke Hawks with their silver medals at the 2019 Jack Bionda Shootout (front row from left) Blake Arbuckle (goalie), Carter Pegg, Sawyer Bullen (goalie), Liam Carnduff; (middle row) Avery Turner, Griffin Parker, Niko Perentesis, Ashley Neal, Logan Sen, James Bulloch, Oren French, Paxten Cool; Hudson Earl, Sage Liadis, Copper Lawrence, Mathew Caswell, Jared Allen; (back from left) coaches and bench staff Gus Liadis, Andrew Pegg, Chris Allen, and Steve Perentesis (supplied)
Three minor Hawks lacrosse teams hosted 15 of their counterparts from three divisions for the 2019 Jack Bionda Shootout.
The Preston Heating Tyke Hawks, The Invisible Fence Brand of Muskoka Novice 2 Hawks and the R&G Construction Peewee Hawks all competed at the July 12-14 tournament with the aim of keeping the gold medals in Huntsville.
The Tyke age group had all four teams in the division play a round-robin format, with each team playing two games on Saturday and two more on the Sunday. The top two winning teams would then move on to the final championship game.
The Tyke Hawks met Mimico for their first game of the tournament and lost, but regrouped for the afternoon game against Six Nations to take their first win. The next morning the Tykes played Halton Hills in a much better performance by the players and an exciting game to watch, said their coach Steve Perentesis said.
“We were tied 7-7 until the last minute of the third when we scored to give us the win, and to put us through to the finals,” he said. The players and spectators all cheered as they knew this win allowed them to move on.
The Tykes would meet Mimico again for the final game. This wasn’t Huntsville’s first time competing for the gold against Mimico—the team played in the Scott Gerrie Memorial tournament in Fergus back in June “where the players dominated the tournament to make it to the finals against Mimico. With a hard fought game they ended up short with an 8-7 loss. A silver medal victory!” said Perentesis.
Unfortunately, even though they fought hard the Hawks were outplayed by Mimico in the final game at the Jack Bionda Shootout and would respectfully receive their finalist’s medals from the tournament.
“The bench staff is very proud of the progress of this team which consists of six, seven, and eight-year-old players,” said Perentesis. “There is some great talent on this team and to see this at such a young age these players are going to develop into some great lacrosse players.”
Above: The Tyke Hawks played hard in the 2019 Jack Bionda Shootout and earned a silver medal for their efforts (supplied)
The Invisible Fence Brand of Muskoka Novice 2 Hawks team had a seven-team division to compete in. With their first game on Friday against Six Nations 3, Huntsville took the win 10-0. Their second game was a loss against Whitby 2 with a score of 7-4. This meant that the Novice Hawks would have to play Six Nations again on Saturday morning. The Hawks were evenly matched this game and won by one goal 4-3. Following their win, the Hawks took a second win against TNT doubling their goals in an 8-4 score. In their fourth game, the Hawks faced Newmarket 1 in the early morning hours on Sunday to beat them 4-1 and secure a spot in the semi-finals.
Carolyn Francis, Director of Media for the Hawks association, noted that the Hawks were nervous as it meant facing Whitby 2 again. Huntsville had some tired legs from playing extra games to advance, and despite signs of a comeback the Hawks couldn’t keep up and lost 8-4 in the semi-finals to end their weekend.
Above: The Novice 2 Hawks fought through to the semi-finals at the annual Jack Bionda Shootout
Finally, The R&G Construction Peewee Hawks played strong on the Don Lough arena floor on Friday to take the win over Burlington 2 with a 3-2 score. The Hawks resoundingly beat Nepean 2 with a shut-out for their second game, 9-0. With only one game on Saturday, the older Hawk players were able to take time to cheer on the younger Hawk players in the Jack Bionda Arena.
Their third game was against Orangeville 2, who the Hawks had previously played and lost to in another tournament. Huntsville was hoping to redeem their game status on their home turf. The Hawks played a competitive game but Orangeville 2 was definitely the stronger team and took the win 4-1. No redemption but their efforts overall did guarantee the team a spot in the semi-final game.
The Peewee Hawks met Burlington 2 in the semi-finals for the second time in the tournament but did not have the energy to keep up with their opponents even though they played their best. A loss prevented them from moving on to the final game.
Great effort, Hawks!
Above: The Peewee Hawks showed true grit at the 2019 Jack Bionda Shootout
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