Jan 26, 2019 | GeoffRead | 499 views
Hawks Claw Back for Tie
The West London Hawks Minor Bantam #27 did not have their best game last night against association rivals #37 and ex-teammates including Owen Verberne, Jacob Bamford, Cody Michiels, Zach Martin, and Miigizens Kicknosway. But even though they were scuffling the team found a way to keep working and claw their way back to tie the game up in the late-going after trailing for most of the match.
Leading scorers Owen Worby and #9 did not have their mojo, as their line with Nathan Senese struggled to put passes together and penetrate the opposition zone with possession. They generated a handful of chances but were unable to find the back of the net on this night.
Usually when your top guns fall silent you're in trouble, and the Hawks indeed fell behind first 1-0 , then 2-1, and finally 3-1. Luckily, however, although the Hawks were not clicking they kept working. Goalie Zach Read made a few big saves while his defence corps of first Brendan Walsh with Pyper Baker and Noah Weber and Jacob Grover (before Matt Hodgins switched places with Walsh in the third), played an efficient game limiting the high-powered team #37's offensive chances.
And sure enough, the second line of Callum Knapp between Hodgins/Walsh on the right and Matt DiCicco on the left came through. In the first period it was Knapp scoring a very similar goal to the one he picked up against Oakridge Monday night, taking a pass on the fly from Walsh on D and stepping across the blueline before letting a snap shot fly that Kicknosway missed. This goal tied the game for the Hawks. Unfortunately, they gave up a go-ahead goal shortly thereafter robbing them of their momentum and making it feel a bit like maybe they just weren't destined to win this one.
But when the Hawks entered the third down 3-1, Coach Liam Walsh reached into his bag of tricks (looking for his lucky charms?) and moved Hodgins back to defence and Brendan Walsh to right wing alongside Knapp and DiCicco. The switch paid immediate dividends when the line started the third with one of the strongest shifts of the game, hemming #37 in their end; Walsh nearly scored when he went hard to the net and took a feed out of the corner from DiCicco. He got a good shot off but Kicknosway made the save. Hodgins, meanwhile, showed why to this reporter's mind his natural position has always been defence, as he used his size and speed to cut the opposition's rushes off before they even got started and make heads up passes to the forwards in transition. The positive effect on the team was palpable.
Gradually, as the period went on the Hawks started to get the better of the play. #9 had a breakaway but missed top corner. Then with just over 3 1/2 minutes to go, DiCicco took a lovely pass from Baker and used his speed and strength to power past #37's defence, charge the net, and make a slick move back to his forehand to bring the Hawks within one.
The Hawks kept pressing. Time was running out. It looked like maybe this would be a moral victory but that the Hawks would go home empty-handed. And then just as the coaching staff was about to summon Read to the bench for the extra attacker, DiCicco corralled a puck at the top of the face-off circle and wired a shot worthy of an Auston Matthews wrister. It was probably the best shot of the seaoson by anyone in any of the Hawks' games. With ruthless accuracy the laser-beam DiCicco fired found the top corner. The game was tied 3-3.
Unfortunately, a mishap happened immediately thereafter when Weber went into the corner and was either slashed in the back of the knee or took an accidental stick or skate there. Weber fell awkwardly in the corner and had to be helped off the ice by coaches Read and Walsh. In the dressing room the team's medical staff's initial diagnosis was a possible hyper-extension but once the pads came off there was a nasty welt on the back that revealed Weber had taken quite a whack from something. Everyone's fingers are crossed the speedy defenceman will be good to go in tonight's game.
So it was a great game for the Hawks. Despite the fact they did not have their A-game they found a way to get the job done.
Go Hawks go!