Nov 12, 2010 | csmalley | 924 views
Hawks Hard to Beat
The Major Midget Lakers played Cambridge twice last week. Great start to Friday’s game with end to end action as both coaches rolled the lines. After winning a puck battle in the right corner, Jeff McArdle calmly advanced the puck up ice to Brandon Priestap and then joined the rush. Getting the return pass, McArdle made a nice move at the blueline before dishing off to Jaden Goetz whose quick shot cleanly beat the goalie - the prettiest goal of the year thus far.
With 21 seconds left in the period Goetz and Priestap were at it again. Their dogged forechecking gave Luke Salters the puck at the left side of the net. Salters had nothing to shoot at but his backhander somehow fit between the post and the goalie’s back….2-0.
Things looked really promising heading into the second period, even better when a Hawks d.man took exception to Colt Pickett bumping into his goalie. On the ensuing Lakers powerplay… the Hawks scored two shorthanded goals!! Lakers regained a one goal lead when Brent Kipfer spotted Garrett King parked off the right side of the goal and slid a perfect pass for the tap in. Hawks tied the game once again at three apiece and then things really went south for H-P. Two more Hawks goals made for a second period in which the Lakers were outscored 5-1.
Three more Hawks tallies in the third, including another short-handed one. Tyler Kettler got one back with help from Darren Kerr and Jerry Ennett. Final score… 8-4. A game like this, in which you lose 8-4 despite outshooting
your opponent 39-29, happens now and then but never twice in the same season - it’s good to have it out of the way. One bright spot was the play of Jeff McArdle. He’s injury free this year and a treat to watch!
On Sunday the team travelled to the Allman Arena in Stratford for a rematch against Cambridge. Four minutes in Lakers went down 1-0 courtesy of a Hawks' powerplay but tied it up before the end of the period when Jerry Ennett (David Sproat) banked a wristshot off a defender.
Midway through the second, period Ryan Watson nearly made it 2-1 after taking a perfect pass in front of the net from Garrett King. Goalie JP Trudell made a huge save on a cross-crease pass and, later in the period, alertly jumped on a puck sitting unattended in the crease. Hawks made it 2-1, but Luke Salters responded seventeen seconds later to even the score at two apiece. Jesse DeGroote started this play by moving the puck to Garrett King in the left faceoff circle. King froze the goalie with what looked like a spinning shot, then sent a perfect pass to Salters who one-timed it. Despite recording 41 shots over the course of the game, Lakers shooters were unable to get a third goal. Cambridge did get a third, with a nifty deflection, to record their 3rd victory of the year against H-P. Final score 3-2 Hawks.