Caledon Hawks novice AA team advances to OMHA semifinals

The Caledon Hawks novice AA team sponsored by Ontario Flooring and NuForce Electrical qualified for the OMHA semifinals after sweeping the Ancaster Avalanche three games to none in the OMHA quarterfinals.

After finishing first in the round-robin series with a 6 and 2 record, the Hawks were slated to play against the Ancaster Avalanche in a best-of-5 game series. The winner of this series would move on to the semifinals of the OMHA playdowns.

Game 1 took place on Valentine's Day when the Hawks traveled to Ancaster to face the Avalanche. The Hawks were ready for this contest and came out flying from the first puck drop. It was a hard fought game that went back and forth through the first two periods.

In the 3rd period the Hawks finally pulled away and won the game 8-5.

Brett Murray was a scoring machine with four goals. Singles came from Julian Bozzo, Joseph Ranieri, Brandon Covre and Matthew D'Urzo. Assists in the game came from Mitchell Luzar, Jacob LaPalme, Brody McLean, Landen Bayes, D'Urzo and Bozzo.

Game 2 of the series was the very next night at home. The Hawks were prepared for a battle as the Avalanche have often showed that they are tough opponents. Once again, the Hawks started off strong taking the lead first. This night featured a different Hawks team, a team that was determined to not allow Ancaster any chances. Strong defensive puck possession and movement along the boards and quick movement out of the Hawks' zone ensured that this game would get no closer. Hawks won this game 6-2 and took a strangle hold on the series two games to none.

This night it was Liam Winslow who led the scoring with four goals. McLean and Bozzo chipped in with one goal each. The assists came from McLean, Brett Murray and Jacob LaPalme. Evan Barlow had a strong game between the pipes for the Hawks.

Game 3 took place two days later at Mayfield. The Hawks were determined to end this series and not have to travel back to Ancaster. A very large home crowd wanted a win. The Hawks did not disappoint. From the opening face-off they applied relentless pressure on the Ancaster team. The defensive play of the Hawks prevented many shots from getting to the net. Nicolas Biamonte had a solid game in the net stopping all but one puck that beat him on the glove side.

The Hawks won the game 4-1 and took the series in three games straight to advance to the OMHA semifinals. The goals in this game came from Winslow with two, Murray and McLean with one each. Assists came from Jonathan Ferguson, Franco Zuccato, Luzar, Winslow, Murray and McLean.

Congratulations go out to all of the players for an outstanding effort in the OMHA quarterfinals. Caledon's novice AA Hawks include Evan Barlow, Landen Bayes, Nicolas Biamonte, Julian Bozzo, Brandon Covre, Matthew D'Urzo, Jonathan Ferguson, Joshua Hall, Kameron Halsall, Jacob LaPalme, Mitchell Luzar, Brody McLean, Brett Murray, Joseph Ranieri, Liam Winslow and Franco Zuccato.

Head coach Terry McLean, assistants Sean Winslow and John Murray, trainer Maurice Covre and team manager Karen Luzar.