Hawks minor lacrosse teams give it their all at provincials

Supplied photos

The Hawks lacrosse teams have all been working hard in practice, in games, and at tournaments preparing for their final lacrosse provincial weekend.

Every summer, the Ontario Lacrosse Association hosts the Ontario Lacrosse Festival in Whitby and surrounding areas. The main stage is at the Iroquois Park Sports Centre which is composed of six arenas and is the hub of the finals for every lacrosse team division.

All lacrosse teams in every age group are ranked and divided into categories based on their game play. The top 16 fall into “A Division”, the next 16 into “B Division” and so on.

The Huntsville Peewee and Bantam Hawks were the first teams to compete in their Provincials tournament. The teams kicked off the festival, playing from August 4-6.

The R&G Construction Peewees during a rain delay – the roof leaked at Garnet B. Rickard arena rendering the floor unsafe to play and the game was halted until the storm passed

The R&G Construction Peewees competed in the B Division and met their first competitors of the weekend from Milton on Friday. The Hawks’ first game ended with a winning score, 8-6. Game two had Huntsville play against Niagara. This game was interrupted and delayed two hours due to rain leaking through the arena roof and onto the floor, causing safety hazards. Numerous games at other arenas were rescheduled for the same reason.

Once the Peewees game against Niagara resumed, the team worked hard to get back into the zone but fell short, losing 7-4. The Peewees’ third game took place on Saturday and was a must-win game if they wanted to advance to the quarter finals. The Hawks gave it their all as they competed against Burlington, but unfortunately they were not able to move on as they lost 8-4 to end their season. Great season R&G Construction Peewee Hawks – you made Huntsville proud.

The FC Hammond Bantam Hawks competed in C Division and played their first game on Friday against Sudbury. It was a close game but the Hawks lost by one in a 2-1 score for Sudbury. Huntsville’s second game had the Hawks beat their opponents from West Durham 4-1. This game was also rained out and rescheduled. On Saturday, the Bantams succeeded in winning their third game by beating Wallaceburg 3-2 which had the team advance into the quarter final game later that day. Sadly, the Hawks were close but they lost to Welland 3-2 in another very close game. Awesome effort team!

From August 6-8, the Preston Heating Tykes attended their provincial tournament where they competed in the A Division. Huntsville was up against one of the teams from the largest centers, Halton Hills, in their first game and lost 10-2. But game two saw the Hawks make a comeback defeating Burlington 7-4! The Tykes were on a roll and took game three as well by beating Centre Wellington 5-3 which secured their spot in the quarter finals.

The Preston Heating Tykes celebrating a 5-3 win over Centre Wellington at The Legends Centre in Oshawa

The Preston Heating Tykes fought hard in the quarter finals but Peterborough was the stronger team and took the win from the Hawks 8-5. You should be proud Hawks for such a successful season.

On Friday, August 11, the Moller Insurance Novice Hawks and the Moose Delaney’s Midget Hawks kicked off their provincial tournaments. Game one for the Novice Hawks was an awesome win over Centre Wellington 6-1. Game two was a struggle against Caledon, who came from behind to score enough goals to steal the victory 5-4. On Saturday, the Novice Hawks faced Clarington, a team they had beat during the regular season. This was also a must-win game for Huntsville to advance into the quarter finals. Sadly, it was a loss for the Moller Insurance Novice Hawks, but what a great effort team!

The Moose Delaney’s Midgets were in fine form for the provincials. The Midgets’ first game on August 11 saw them take the win over Guelph with a score of 5-3. Later that night, the Hawks played against New Tecumseh but lost in a close game, 5-4. On Saturday, the team clobbered Six Nations with an eight point lead, 9-1, allowing them to advance into the quarter finals.

The quarter final game had Huntsville versus Shelburne, a local zone team that the Hawks played through their regular season and was confident they could beat. It was close but the Hawks managed to pull out two goals to hold a 4-2 win in the third period. This win secured the Hawks a spot in the semi-finals against West Durham on Sunday morning. This was the farthest a Hawks team had made it in the provincials this season so the Huntsville Lacrosse Association were cheering them on, many from home. Huntsville played hard and left it all out on the floor but it wasn’t quite enough. They lost 6-3. Congratulations on making it to the semis, Hawks!

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