Dec 21, 2016 | Jason | 778 views
Stepping up a class
On Monday with the AE regular season winding down, the Hawks snuck an exhibition game in against Burford who is near the top of the Rep standings, to see how they will fare when they move up in class for the playoffs.
It was as exciting a game as the Hawks have played all season. After playing Burford in the Port Dover tournament and falling to them 4-1 we knew they were fast and would be flying the whole game. The Hawks were determined to keep up and they did just that in a very quick first period which saw Austin Topp shine as he turned away a handful of big time saves amongst the 9 shots he faced. The Hawks were flying as well and the Burford goalie was forced to make some big saves as well to keep the score tied 0-0 heading into the second period.
9 seconds into the second period Burford caught a break on a shot going high and wide of the net from just inside the blueline hit the knob of Topp's stick and changed direction back into the net to give Burford the 1-0 lead. The Hawks didn't quit and neither did Topp as he was forced to make a brilliant splits save off his toe to keep the game at a 1 goal lead. The Hawks were swarming the Burford net but couldn't slide anything past including a Connor Mendes shorthanded breakaway that was turned aside. The Hawks kept pressing and while they couldn't bulge the twine they had Burford on the ropes heading into the third period.
In the third the Hawks were finally rewarded for their persistence as Justin Kerwin was able to bang home a rebound on an Owen Doolittle shot to even the score at 1-1. Connor Mendes picked up the other assist on the play.
A hawks penalty with 6 minutes left in the game gave Burford the advantage they needed to take the lead back as they slide the puck out front to a wide open player who fired it past Austin before he could react. The Hawks who had pressed all game and worked the whole game weren't about to let that goal stand up, and Captain Carson Mitchell walked down the left hand side on a 2 on 1, and using Braeden Heeg as a decoy, fired a bullet shot past the Burford goalie to make it 2-2. Feeding off the momentum as the clock ticked under 2 minutes to go Burford took a penalty trying to keep up with the speed of the Hawks which allowed Hagersville to push for the go ahead goal. With 41 seconds left Evan Sibbick kept the puck in at the Burford line and let a wrist shot go from the point, with Braeden parked at the side of the net and he slide it thru the goaltenders legs for a 3-2 Hawks lead.
Burford pulled their goalie for the final 41 seconds and Austin was forced to make some big saves and the Hawks prevailed 3-2 in a fast paced game.
Goals - Braeden Heeg, Carson Mitchell, Justin Kerwin
Assists - Owen Doolittle, Evan Sibbick, Connor Mendes
Player of the game as chosen by the team (since the coaches wanted to give it to the whole team) was Braeden Heeg for the game winner and also for his relentless skating the whole time
Next up Wednesday Dec 21st against Ingersoll to close out the regular season.