Caledon minor atom AE Hawks draw in home opener

The Caledon RBC Royal Bank South Hill Hawks and the Brantford Church Saints played to a 2-2 draw in the Hawks regular season home opener.

The Hawks opened the scoring mid-way through the first period as Mark Guaragna banged in a rebound off a nifty deke by Dylan Frail.

The Hawks held a 1-0 advantage until the 9:59 mark of the third period with strong penalty killing and solid defensive play in front of their own net, clearing the puck to safety on numerous occasions. Forward Michael Karrangus and defenceman Jonathon Ferguson led the penalty killing with some aggressive forechecking preventing the Church Saints from mounting a charge with the man advantage.

Brantford finally drew even on a solo effort by Mike Stefanelli from in close as the puck rolled off the glove of goalie Josh Thompson and into the back of the net.

Caledon gained the advantage back less than 90 seconds later as Alex Cowper scored a highlight reel goal, one timing a backhand into the top corner from the slot, off of a centering pass from Rocco Marinaccio. Centre Austin Pope drew the other assist.

Only a breakaway goal by Brantford's player of the game Stefanelli, with three minutes to play, prevented the Hawks gaining a victory in a solid team effort.

Next up for the Hawks are back to back games against archrivals Georgetown and Brampton.