Cavalier atom AE Hawks win regional Silverstick

The Caledon atom AE Hawks won the recent Silverstick qualifying tournament in Chatham.

The Caledon atom AE Hawks took their regular season winning streak to the Regional Silverstick Tournament in Chatham recently with the hopes of qualifying for the International Silverstick Final.

They did not disappoint their fans.

The tournament opened against St. Thomas with Kobe Stronach in net. The scoring opened at 3:36 in the first period with a goal by Nicholas Amato on setup passes from Quinn Richardson and Mitchell Devins-Cann. The Hawks started to fly in the second, as Jake Stronach broke free for an unassisted goal. With the entire team working hard, Amato followed that up on a rebound from Steven Smythe. Amato closed the period with a third goal after some great puck control passing by Richardson and Callan McCorriston.

The Hawks dominated in the third with Amato capitalizing on a line change and passes from Carter Ledson and Zachary Wilson. Richardson got the final goal of the game on a pass from Kevin Pleasance. The Hawks won 6-0 thanks to great offensive and defensive play and a strong performance by Stronach between the pipes.

The second game was against the hometown Chatham Maroons, and it saw the Hawks take an early lead, as Richardson dug the puck from the corner over to Smythe who snapped it in. Wilson then capitalized on a pressure filled penalty shot to put the Hawks ahead 2-0. The Maroons fought hard in the second, but could not keep up. Amato found himself alone with the puck during the third period and drilled it past the keeper. Richardson and Smythe duplicated their passing for another goal. The Hawks scoring ended on a rocket shot from the point by McCorriston after passes from Pleasance and Daniel Fusco. The Hawks won 5-1 as Ryan Thompson kept his shutout until the final few seconds of the game.

After a long day of pregame warm-ups by the pool, winning mascots in the arcade, and the parents on storm watch. The Hawks faced Tecumseh. Tyler Buth started things off on a pass from Fusco. The second period scoring got started at 8:48, as Smythe passed the puck over to Pleasance for a goal. Smythe then found the back of the net on a pass from Richardson. Wilson fired up the blades to out maneuver the goalie for an unassisted goal.

The third period saw Pleasance go to town, as Buth and Fusco set-up another goal for him. Jake Hurrell made a nice rush, passing over to Fusco, who put the goal to Pleasance for another marker. Stronach and Wilson moved the puck nicely, as Wilson popped it in. Pleasance decided to really go for a higher paying contract, as he scored unassisted and then got his fifth goal on another pass from Fusco. Stronach stood strong in net for the Hawks 9-1 victory. Solid defensive performances were turned in again from Conner Catenaro, Francesco Lunardo, Sarah Power, McCorriston, Hurrell and Devins-Cann.

The blizzard hit hard the Sunday, but the Hawks dogsledded their way to the arena for highly anticipated final against the Cambridge Hawks. Cambridge took an early lead in the first period. Caledon fought hard, and even with a two-man advantage, Cambridge could not score in the second. But Caledon needed to come from behind. Thompson continued to play strong in net. The fans were nervous, but at 9:25 of the third, Richardson scored on passes up the line from Power and Hurrell. Mid-way through the third, Caledon found themselves two-men short again, but they fought hard. With 51 seconds left in regulation time, Caledon was penalized again and entered overtime shorthanded.

At 8:59 of overtime, Cambridge took a penalty creating a four-on-four scenario. Wilson won the face-off back to Devins- Cann who fired the puck for the winning goal.

The Hawks are heading to the International Finals in Niagara in January.