On Friday the Hawks took on their rival Wingham Ironmen in the only game on the holiday weekend. In the past the Hawks recorded three wins and one shootout loss, although three of the four games against Wingham needed extra time exceeding 60 minutes. This game would prove to be no different after an exciting come back from Walkerton.
In the first period there was no scoring recorded with Wingham outshooting Walkerton marginally 10 to nine. It was the second period where the Ironmen surmounted four goals in 20 minutes with Walkerton only being able to score once on a goal from Haden Campbell started by Adam Alexander and David Jones.
The Hawks picked it up in the third period when most would have thought the game was as good as over.  Wingham added an insurance marker a minute in the third making it 5-1 a four-goal difference with less than a period remaining. Cody Oehm started the comeback with an assist going to Jordan Turcotte. Alexander got back on the score sheet along with Brad Humberstone to assist on Haden Campbell’s second goal of the game. Mike Bujold would play hero as he scored the next two goals the last assisted by Jay Thomson with only four minutes remaining, sending the game to overtime.
In overtime the game was evenly matched with Wingham getting three shots and Walkerton only two. There was no winner decided making the game go to the thrilling shootout. Through the first three shooters nothing was resolved as they were tied in an even 1-1 match, forcing the shootout to go to sudden victory format. The next three shooters on each side played a game of copy cat, making a victor impossible to be determined. On the seventh shooter Walkerton chose new forward Shane McDonald. McDonald scored as Jeff Flagler stopped Wingham’s final shooter making Walkerton victorious in another hard fought match between these two foes.
Walkerton was missing two of their top four players, – Drew Davidson and Andy Mitchell.
“It was good to show that even without some of our top guys, the rest of the team can win. Now teams will fear all four lines.” said rookie forward Wendel Cameron also noted that “the Ironmen are tough competitors, and everyone is out to knock off the top team. We know we cannot take the night off against any team for that matter.”
The Hawks have three games this week playing on the road on Wednesday against the Hanover Barons before having a home game on Friday against the Barons again and finally travelling to Mount Forest New Year’s Eve to play the Patriots.