The Walkerton Hawks fell victim to a Mitchell team on a mission on Friday night, losing 4-3 in overtime, but got back in the win column the following night with a 7-5 road win over Goderich.
Two wins on the weekend would’ve locked up second place in the Western Jr. C standings for Mitchell, so Walkerton knew they’d be facing a team at the top of their game.
“We knew they’d really be out looking for a win,”?said Hawks General Manager and head coach Steve Barrett.
Walkerton scored three goals in the first while shutting out their opponents, but Mitchell made sure those goals were The Hawks’ only offensive output all night.
“I don’t think we had a real great start to the game by any means,” Barrett said, “Kyle Brodhagen wasn’t sharp in net for them early on, but then he settled in and helped them get back in it, and eventually win it.”
Brodhagen made 19 saves in the winning effort.
Steve Collins picked up a goal and assist in the opening frame. Also scoring were Justin Wakewich and Mike Bujold.
Mitchell’s Pat Looby tallied a couple of goals in the second, on the way to a four-point night.
“He had been a non-factor in previous games aganst us but he was definitely one of the players who stepped up for them on?Friday,” Barrett said of Looby.
Walkerton held onto their one-goal lead until the final minute of the third when Andrew Van Vliet found the back of the net, assisted by Looby and Tyler Van Drunen, tying the game.
Mitchell claimed victory 20 seconds into overtime with the gamewinner coming from Boyd Brown.
Despite the early flourish, Walkerton managed just five shots in the third period.
“We were outworked for the better part of the game; when you get outworked you tend to be chasing, not initiating,” Barrett said.
In net for Walkerton, Clayton Fritsch made 34 saves in the loss.
The Hawks played with a short bench the following night in?Goderich.
“We were missing quite a few players on Saturday, some key guys were absent for school reasons — either exams on Monday or papers due on Monday. If it had been a more important game they would’ve been there, but since it wasn’t they asked for the night off to keep up with studies,” said Barrett, “It’s a good idea because we will be picking things up, and adding some extra practices in advance of the playoffs.”
Several other players with nagging injuries are also being allowed to rest up before the post-season gets underway in Walkerton on Feb. 26.
“We didn’t have a lot of players on?Saturday so everybody got lots of ice time,” Barrett said.
Walkerton opened the scoring and kept strong pressure on the Sailors’ net, but Goderich kept the game close, replying quickly whenever The Hawks scored and neutralizing their momentum.
Barrett called Walkerton’s early clinching of first place a double-edged sword, saying their first place lock made it harder to stay focussed in games against teams lower down in the standings.
Leading the scoring for The Hawks were Trevor Smith (3) and Tanner Shlakat (2). Bujold scored once and earned two assists. Collins also scored once and helped out on one.
Greg Wardell picked up three assists on Saturday, his fourth three-point game of the campaign.
“He’s been real strong for us this last little while,” Barrett said, “It’s been tough for some guys to stay focussed, but he’s excelled and comes to the rink with fire in eyes every night.”
The Hawks finish off their regular season this weekend with two road games, travelling to Kincardine on?Friday night and Mitchell on Saturday.