Mar 26, 2016 | GeoffRead | 1186 views
Hawks' Successful Season Ends with 4-3 Semi-Final Loss
The Hawks met up with the formidable Bandits B4 in the semifinals, and despite an outstanding team effort from the Hawks, some goal-scoring heroics from Theo Enns, and player of the game Brendan Walsh standing on his head in the net, the Bandits proved a little too much for the Hawks to handle defensively. The Hawks held a 3-1 lead with six minutes left, but allowed the Bandits to score three unanswered goals as the Bandits, led by an outstanding defenceman who is likely the league's MVP, poured it on.
The game was a nail biter from start to finish, as Enns opened the scoring in the first with a hard wrist shot, only to see the Bandits tie the game up in the second on a nice shot from Walsh's right. In the third, Enns put two more wristers past the Bandits netminder, but then the Bandits found another gear and the Hawks struggled to keep up. The result was three goals in the last six minutes of the game. The final one came with a minute to go, scored off a goal-mouth scramble where one Bandit had the presence of mind to send it across the crease to a teammate for a tap-in.
The Hawks had a glorious chance to go up 4-1 with about seven minutes left when Zach Read caused a turnover in the Bandits' zone and sent a nice feed to Owen Worby who whistled a shot about an inch wide of the far post. It felt like a major opportunity missed and that proved to be the case, unfortunately.
Still, the Hawks had much to be proud of on this night. Wingers Jacob Bamford, Matt Di Cicco, Read, Worby, and Trevor Commanda heeded their coaches' advice and did a good job of covering the points, taking away one of the Bandits' big weapons in the offensive zone. Likewise, while the Hawks struggled to break out of their end against the pinching Bandits defencemen, they never gave up and the defensive zone coverage was, despite the Bandits' comeback, actually quite good for most of the game, as the defense of Owen Verberne, Noah Weber, Pyper Baker, Cody Michiels, and Josh McCarvell played their positions well and battled hard to deny the Bandits premium chances. Michiels had a particularly strong game out-muscling Bandits in front of the net. Centre Callum Knapp, the Hawks' very own Craig Conroy or Guy Carbonneau, flashed his two-way skills all game picking the pockets of Bandits' players and carrying the puck out of danger repeatedly. When the Bandits did break free, Walsh was there to slam the door shut, keeping his body upright and coolly snagging several high shots with his glove. Walsh's composure was also evident in that he gave up almost no rebounds, trapping the puck repeatedly on his chest.
Enns' hat trick left him with 70 goals on the season, capping a remarkable year that will surely end with him making the move to competitive hockey. Verberne, Commanda, and Bamford earned assists.
While the Hawks took the defeat hard, they could look back proudly on a season that saw them move up from the B Division last year to the A Division playoffs this year, and finish the season with a rock solid claim to be the third best team in the league - a team that has showed it can play with anybody.
Great season Hawks! Enjoy the year-end party and the parent-player game and have a great summer!