Roth Hawks in flurry of Tri-County action

March 4 saw Roth Diamond Tools minor bantam AE Hawks facing a string of four games in five days in Tri-County round robin action.

First up was the Brampton Battalion at Mayfield. In the first the Hawks dominated with the shot count 8 to 2 but no goals were tallied. The second was contested hotly and the Hawks were rewarded at 10:44 when J.T. Gore feathered the break away pass to Kyle Sammut who powered down the middle and found mesh with a smooth wrist shot. At 3:23 it was Chris Scrivo and Nolan Pearce teaming up to assist Ryan Rausch on his goal from the slot.

Into the third the Hawks carried the two-goal lead as a determined Battalion squad began to take control. They notched a goal at the eight minute mark only to be answered one minute later by Captain Gore with help from Tyler Symonds. The Brampton boys pounded hard on the solid defensive core of Cody Ruff, Nolan Pearce, David Rothfuchs and Symonds but could only manage to get one more by the star of the game Nathan Cole who backstopped the 3-2 victory for our Hawks.

Worst Lost

The following night it was the Oakville Rangers in town. On this night the Hawks could not get going and surrendered four unanswered goals to record their worst loss of the season.

Narrow Loss

One night later the action shifted to the return match against Brampton on their home ice. Again the first period solved nothing and the Hawks enjoyed a territorial and shot advantage with no goals to count. Early in the second it was Sammut and Gore buzzing around the Brampton cage freeing the puck for a quick finish by James Harkins. The Battalion found a way to answer with a goal at 7:58 and followed with another mid way in the third to take the lead. The Hawks battled but could get the equalizer despite ringing one off the cross bar with 25 seconds remaining. With the 2-1 defeat the prospect of the season being over weighed heavily on the boys.

Georgetown Nemesis

A one-day rest and fortified with the thought they had not lost three straight all year the Hawks faced off against their nemesis Georgetown March 8 at Mayfield.

Again the Hawks controlled the play in the first and no goals were tallied. This changed quickly in the second when Brandon Richard picked up the loose puck off the opening draw and cruised in over the blue line. He hammered a cannon shot just wide of the net and the rebound landed on the stick of Rausch who deposited the first goal. Two minutes later the hard working Gore found Sammut free in front and the big guy wasted no time drilling the puck home. At 11:49 Georgetown fought back notching a goal of their own to tighten things up. Mid-period it was the slick passing of Cameron Miller and Christian Bonaldi feeding Chris Scrivo for a quick one timer. Later on the same shift Miller carried the puck into the zone and dropped the perfect feed to Scrivo who wired the puck top corner giving the Hawks some breathing room.

Into the third the tense game continued as the Hawks killed off an incredible number of marginal penalties. The reward came at 13:20 when Rausch counted his second of the game off a dandy cross-ice feed from Symonds with another assist credited to Richard. At 8:54 the Hawks' sixth marker was tallied on the rush by Symonds set up by Miller with his third assist of the game. Symonds, Miller and Ruff accomplished a lot also killing off a big chunk of a 5-on-3 disadvantage.

Oakville got a late goal past Marco Chiechi who had a solid night between the pipes recording a 6-2 Caledon victory. The key head-to-head win and goal differential propelled the Hawks into the Tri-County final playoff series. Go Hawks!