Bantam Hawks celebrate Tri-County victory

Caledon bantam AE SPM Tech Inc. Hawks celebrated their recent tri-county victory.

The Caledon bantam AE SPM Tech Inc. Hawks entered the Tri-County championships recently with lots of energy and high expectations.

The Hawks met Erin in the first round robin game and Blair Garrish quickly opened the scoring in the first on a goal assisted by Michael Stobo. From that point on it was a goaltenders dual with Jamie Gordon stoning the opposition until the third when Erin snuck one past him and the game ended in a 1-1 draw.

In the second game Anthony Fera was between the pipes against Milton. In this hard fought contest Michael Tarasco opened the scoring on a pretty goal unassisted in the first. Enzo Crognale added one in the second assisted by Nick Salem.

The opposition couldn't beat goalie Fera in this one and the boys went on to win 2-0.

Third up was Flamborough. Goals in this contest went to Tarasco from Michael Boldrin, Lee Panchuk from Tyler Nutzenberger, Tarasco from Nutzenberger and Boldrin, and Tarasco who capped off a hat-trick in the third from captain Nick Roberti. Goalie Gordon made a number of key saves late in the game to hold on to the 4- 4 tie.

In a return match against Flamborough at Mayfield arena the boys couldn't afford another tie and they came out strong with a 5-1 victory. Scorers were Kirk Hartley from Panchuk, Tarasco from Boldrin, Garrish from Nutzenberger and Stobo, Matt Forer from Nutzenberger, and Tarasco from Boldrin. Goalie Fera had a solid performance allowing only one goal.

The fifth game was a return match against Erin and again the boys had their hands full. They managed to eke out a 2-2 tie against the Erin team on goals by Stobo and Luke Koolman assisted by Hartley and a solid netminding performance from Gordon.

The final round robin game was against Oakville and the boys needed a victory to clinch a spot in the Tri-County finals. This game was truly a nail biter. Fera made many key saves early in the game and the boys fought hard but late in the third they were down by a score of 3-2 on goals by Matt Somers from Boldrin and Koolman and an unassisted goal from Nick Salem.

As the minutes wound down tension mounted. With Fera pulled in favour of the extra attacker Boldrin finally found the back of the net with just 1 minute and 17 seconds remaining to tie the game up. Not a team to rest on its laurels, the team continued to press and Salem found the back of the net from Stobo with just 4 seconds left to secure the victory and first place in round robin play.

For the best-of-three tricounty finals, Jonathan Batten was back in the lineup after suffering a broken arm earlier in the season but Tarasco was out with an injured shoulder and Gordon was also away. The boys managed to pull off a 4-3 victory in a chippy first game.

Goals went to Somers and Forer unassisted, Panchuk from Roberti, and Somers from Crognale and Salem setting up a second game in Oakville with the championship on the line.

In the second game of the championship round, both the Oakville and Caledon teams came out skating hard. By the end of the second period Caledon had netted one goal by Matt Somers from Boldrin and goalie Fera but Oakville had found the net twice and the boys were down 2-1. In the third Fera continued to be solid between the pipes and mid-period Boldrin finally netted the tying goal from Garrish. The period ended with a number of end-to-end rushes but neither team could finish the other one off and regulation ended in a 2-2 tie.

Overtime was a tense affair with Oakville needing a win to stay alive and Caledon wanting a win for the championship. Overtime started with a number of scoring chances for each side but goalies at both ends of the rink were stubborn and play continued. Finally Nutzenberger found the puck and raced down the left wing into Oakville's end. He slid the puck in front to Nick Dimaso and Dimaso coolly slipped the puck passed the Oakville netminder to clinch the Tri-County championship and to cap an undefeated Tri-County run.

The boys would like to thank coaches Elliot Forer, Vince Crognale, Ian Gordon, and Alex Gunn, manager Susan Batten, and supporters for their time and efforts making this such a successful and enjoyable season.