The Huntsville Hawks have moved on to the second round of the Ontario Junior C Eastern division playoffs. The Hawks scored an impressive 13-11 come from behind victory in Cornwall Friday night to win the best of three series in two straight games over the Celtics.
Brett Handsor led the attack scoring five goals, including three in the third period.
Tyler Conn had three goals and assisted on six other scoring plays. Chris McLaughlin and Nick VanGelder had two each and Jack Drinkwater added a single. ,
The Hawks had to play the game with only fourteen players, four of them up from the midget ranks. Brett Handsor has seen regular action with the Hawks and Tyler Arnott has also been in the lineup on other occasions this year. However, it was the first game for Caleb Creasor and Evan Dickson and all were pressed into regular duty because the team was shorthanded.
Coach Joe O’Halloran said they tried to play a conservative game because of their short bench but quickly fell behind. It was 7-3 in favour of Cornwall after the first period and 10-6 after forty minutes.
A goal by Chris McLaughlin with less than two minutes to play in the second period seemed to spark the Hawks. They carried the momentum into the third period and scored seven unanswered goals which was enough to win the game.
Brett Handsor scored three goals in 16 seconds in the third period, each one coming after winning a faceoff and using speed to get to the net.
Goalkeeper Mitch Wagner started the game for Huntsville, but he was replaced after the first period by Zack Hubbard.
Hubbard played really well for us, only allowing four goals and he kept us in there at times. It was an awesome character win for these guys with only 14 players.
Coach Joe O’Hallaran
Huntsville now advances to round two of the playoffs against the Clarington Shamrox. Huntsville has played the Shamrox in the playoffs the last three years and have yet to beat them.
“They are our nemesis,” said O’Halloran. “Hopefully we can learn from our mistakes and continue this run.”
Game one of the best of five series is set for Clarington Tuesday July 12. Game two will be back in Huntsville Thursday July 14. Game three is in Clarington Saturday July 16. If a fourth game is necessary it will be at the Jack Bionda arena Sunday July 17, and if the series goes the full five games, the deciding game is scheduled in Clarington Tuesday July 19.
Don’t miss out on Doppler! Sign up for our free, twice-weekly newsletter here.
0 Comments