Atom AE Hawks open season with tournament win!

The atom AE Hawks opened the season in style with a tournament victory in Uxbridge in mid-September.

The atom AE Hawks opened the season in style with a tournament victory in Uxbridge in mid-September. All the hard work in the preseason practices paid off as the Hawks dominated in five of their six tournament games.

The first game saw the Hawks face the home favourite Uxbridge Stars. The Hawks came out flying, quieting the home crowd with two quick goals in the first five minutes of the game. The Hawks continued to circle, scoring two more in the first and three more in the second.

Despite being down by six goals, the Stars pushed hard and kept the Hawks off the board in the third and finally put the puck in the Hawks net with only 12 seconds left in the game. Final score 6-1. The Hawks marksmen in this game included Joseph Lapiccirella

(3G), Joseph Ruffolo (2A), Jacob Skrinar (1G,1A), Will Pidduck (1G,1A), Nicholas Mansueto (1A), Jonathan Lollino (1G), Michael Marinaccio (1G) and Michael Andrews (1A).

Next the Hawks faced the Bradford Bulldogs. Once again the Hawks were out of the gate on fire, dominating the Bulldogs from the drop of the puck. The Hawks skated hard, and with great passing and hard work, scored seven unanswered goals. The game ended in a 7-0 victory and secured the team a place in the semifinals!

Hawks points for this game came from Joseph Lapiccirella (2G, 1A), Jacob Skrinar (1G, 2A), Michael Andrews (4A), Nicholas Mansueto (1A), Will Pidduck (1G), Bradley Keough (1G), Michael Marinaccio (1G) and Braeden Bayes (1G). Eric Pitcher had his first shutout of the season.

The Hawks' third game was against the also, undefeated Richmond Hill Stars. The Hawks once again came out of the nest on fire but strong goaltending from Richmond Hill kept the Hawks off the board.

The Stars were first on the board, scoring in both the first and second period. The Hawks were determined to get back in the game and scored in the first minute of the third period to keep the game in reach. Both teams had opportunities for the remainder of the period but unfortunately the Hawks were not able to score any more goals. The game ended in a 3-1 loss. The Hawks' lone goal was scored by Michael Marinaccio, unassisted.

The Hawks played a fourth game, with no impact on their own standings. The boys were relaxed and used this game to further prepare for the semifinals. The game versus the Port Perry Predators was never in question as the Hawks started their domination just 45 seconds into the game. They never looked back and won the game 6-1!

Hawks point-getters were Jacob Skrinar (3G), Jonathan Lollino (1G), Michael Bozzelli (1G), Braeden Glendinning (1G) and Braeden Bayes (2A).

The semifinal saw the Hawks once again face the Bradford Bulldogs. After their loss to Richmond Hill, the Hawks were ready to roll again. The team dominated the Bulldogs in every aspect of the game. The final score was Hawks 7, Bulldogs 3. The Hawks points went to Jacob Skrinar (2G), Braeden Bayes (1G, 1A), Michael Andrews (1G, 1A), Will Pidduck (1G, 1A), Joseph Ruffolo (1G, 1A), Jonathan Lollino (1G, 1A), Joseph

Lapiccirella (1A), Zachary Gouveia (1A) and Michael Marinaccio (1A). The Hawks were on their way to the finals to once again meet the hometown Uxbridge Stars.

Championship Final

In the final game the Hawks showed they were not to be denied this tournament win. They flew out of the gate and scored three goals in the first six minutes of the game.

The team never looked back and scored a total of 8 goals. The Hawks held the Stars to just three goals and went on to become tournament champions! This game's Hawks markers went to Braeden Bayes (3G, 1A), Jacob Skrinar (2G, 4A), Michael Marinaccio (1G, 4A), Nicholas Mansueto (2A), Joseph Ruffolo (1A), Michael Bozzelli (1G), Will Pidduck (1A), Joseph Lapiccirella (1G), Bradley Keough (1A) and Michael Andrews (1A).