Caledon Hawks minor atom AAs win silver at Stratford regional silver stick tourney

The minor atom AAs traveled to Stratford to compete in the 34th annual Rotary Regional Silver Stick Tournament Dec. 27.

Orangeville was the opponent in the kickoff game of the tournament. The scoring did not begin until the second period when Jesse Fir took a pass from Christian Hauck and fired the puck into the net. Nicholas Amato also helped with the first goal of the tourney. Mitchell Duggan kept the puck in the offensive zone during a Caledon power play and after a nifty change of direction behind the net by Fir and a pass out front, Hauck slipped the puck into the net. The Hawks held on in the third to win the game 2-1.

Lightning on fire

The second game of the day was a match against West Mall Lightning. The Hawks were slow to get started and the very powerful Lightning team got up two goals in the first. The Hawks outshot the Lightning in the second and third, but ended up losing game two with a 4-1 score. The lone Caledon goal was scored by Sean Nottle, assisted by Conner Morro.

Hawks get the points

In a 5-point game system, the Hawks needed to get four points in their very exciting third game against Mississauga Braves on Thursday morning to qualify for the medal round.

Sean Nottle scored the first Caledon goal with Morro assisting. Mississauga were also in a must win situation and played hard, coming back with a goal of their own in the first. The second period saw Fir take a hard wrist shot putting the puck behind the Braves goalie. The assist went to David Pillsworth. Nottle got his second of the game from a pass from Justin Donatelli while the Hawks were on a two-man power play. With only 0.8 seconds left in the second the Braves managed a goal to tie the game. Nando Sirianni took a pass from Jordan Bokla and scored the only goal of the third period to secure the win for the Hawks and to get enough points to move on to the semifinal round.

Semifinal victory

The Hawks played the number one seed from the other pool, which proved to be Georgetown Raiders in the semifinal game.

The game was played on a very soft, mushy ice surface which interfered with accurate passes for both teams. Pillsworth scored both Caledon goals with Hauck and Bokla assisting on the first one and Fir getting the assist on the second. Georgetown scored in the third on a power play to close the gap, but the Hawks were the winners, 2-1.

Championship finale

The two top teams met on Friday morning for the Championship game. The Hawks were once again up against the talented West Mall Lightning club.

There were lots of scoring chances for the Hawks in the first, however, the Lightning got ahead 1-0. In the second, Curro kept the game close, scoring from a pass from Sirianni. The Hawks' fans were excited with the prospect of a penalty shot goal, but the puck got away from Nottle and it was not to be. Nottle did sink a goal with assists going to Tyler Whitten and Morro on a Caledon power play in the third. The Lightning team pulled away later in the third and the final score was 7-2.

The Hawks came away with the silver medal in this tournament, and are proud of making it all the way to the finals since their pool was composed of extremely tough competition.

A special thanks to Kyla Richardson and Celia Sirianni, sisters of Lukas and Nando, who sold their hand-made festive Hawks bracelets during the tournament to raise money for our team. Congratulations to all members of the Caledon Hawks minor atom AA hockey team!