The Huntsville Hawks find themselves in third place and in danger of slipping into fourth after losing to the Peterborough Lakers in Peterborough 12-7 on Friday night. It was a significant loss for the Hawks with both Whitby and Peterborough breathing down their necks in the battle for second spot in the Jr. C standings.
It was an uphill battle all the way for Huntsville. The Hawks trailed 6-4 after the first period due in large part to a five minute major penalty that resulted in Peterborough scoring two power play goals. It was 10-7 after forty minutes with the Lakers scoring the other goals in the third.
We came strong in the second period and made it 6-5, but they pulled away from there. You can’t go 20 minutes and not score and that’s what happened in the third period.Coach Joe O’Halloran
“We had a short bench having to go with only 15 guys and that sucks but losing to Cornwall last week put us in a difficult spot. Now it becomes scoreboard watching. We don’t want to be in fourth place but we’ve kind of made our own bed now and that sucks. We have to hope that Whitby loses two of their last four and we win our remaining games against Barrie and Peterborough next week”, said O’Halloran of the tight spot the Hawks are now in.
Goaltender Zack Hubbard again was the victim of the lack of offence. He kept the Hawks in the game keeping it close after 40 minutes. “It hurts when he played hard and we couldn’t score for him,” said O’Halloran.
Chris McLaughlin led the scoring for the Hawks with three goals and was in on a fourth. Ty Conn had five assists. Luke Allen had two goals, while Josh and Nate Zantingh each had a goal and an assist.
The Hawks still have an 8 and 6 win loss record but the team feels like they have let another three wins slip away and right now that is the difference as they battle for positions in the upcoming playoffs.
“We need our last two games and we need some help,” said O’Halloran. “We need to play 60 minutes and execute our game plan and believing in that, believing in the system we have in place and believing in ourselves as a team. I think we still have some good lacrosse yet.”
The Hawks play in Barrie and June 24 and then meet up with the Peterborough Lakers again, this time in Huntsville, on Saturday June 25.
Update June 19: Hawks have slipped into fourth spot behind Clarington, Whitby and Peterborough.
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