The Walkerton Hawks piled on three more wins over the weekend, snuffing out Kincardine in a road game, and defeating Mount Forest and Wingham at home.
Friday night in Kincardine, The Hawks squeaked out a 4-3 victory over The Bulldogs, solidifying their hold on first place in the Western Jr.?C standings.
Trevor Smith opened the scoring for Walkerton in the first period, with assists going to?Adam Alexander and Justin?Wakewich.
Kincardine answered back less than a minute later with a goal by Paul?Stewart.
In the first half of the second The Hawks netted two, only to have Kincardine reply with two more of their own later in the frame, keeping the score all tied up heading into the third.
Scoring in the second period for Walkerton were Wakewich and Dean Nixon. Kevin?Quincey, Steve Collins and Tyler Allen earned assists.
During a powerplay at 12:35 in the third, Tanner Shlakat put away his second consecutive gamewinner. Quincey picked up his second assist of the night on the play, with Greg Wardell also assisting.
Clayton?Fritsch made 34 saves in the win.
“On the road in Kincardine we got outworked a little bit,” said Hawks GM and Head Coach Steve Barrett, “Kincardine was on a bit of a roll from having beat Hanover twice in their last two games, and they were looking to knock us off.”
Barrett said Kincardine has an intimidating style of play. “They scramble and make sure they get the puck on the net a lot. That’s scary when you’re facing a team consistently doing that,” he said.
The win combined with Mitchell’s loss to Mount Forest, clinched first place.
The next night The Hawks defeated The Patriots 7-1.
The lone goal in the first period came at 16:54, scored by Smith and assisted by?Allen. Goalie Dan Trombley made 13 stops during the first period for The Hawks.
“If not for Dan Trombley we would have been down early and fighting from behind,” Barrett said,?“We had a chat at the end of the first on getting into the game and I voiced my displeasure at what I’d been seeing.”
The Hawks offence responded in the second, pummeling the Mount Forest net and taking a 7-0 lead before the end of the period.
“We came out flying and racked up six unanswered goals. It was really something,” Barret said.
Collins’ power play goal at 3:27, assisted by Alexander and Rob Brennan, became the eventual gamewinner, but The Hawks kept up the pressure.
Also scoring in the second were Wardell (2), Brennan, Shlakat, and Bujold.
Alexander picked up his second assist of the period, helping on a short-handed goal by Wardell.
Barrett has been impressed with Alexander’s efforts in the past few months.
“For a second-year player, we had some idea what he could do, but he’s exceeded all expectations,” Barrett said, “Whenever a captain or assistant is absent he gets the letter on his shirt. He’s been great all winter.”
Mount Forest found the back of the Walkerton net on a two-man advantage in the third, breaking the shutout, but were unable to overcome The Hawks’ hefty lead.
“It would’ve been nice to see Dan get the shutout,” Barrett said, “It would have been a completely different game without his work in the first. But, when you put yourself in a five-on-three there’s something wrong with the other team if you don’t get scored on.”
The final matchup in The Hawks’ three-game weekend pitted them against the Wingham Ironmen in Walkerton on?Sunday afternoon.
Walkerton scored early and scored often, beating Wingham 5-2 and tallying their 10th consecutive win.
Trombley, who started the game in net, left at the end of the first due to “significant shoulder discomfort,” Barrett said “Dan took a puck off the shoulder on Saturday. After warmup on?Sunday he said it was sore but would be fine,” he explained.
A play that finished at the net near the end of the first forced Trombley out of the game. Fritsch relieved him and played the duration.
Scoring for The Hawks were Wakewich (2), Bujold, Carl Andrews, and Matt Rostek.
The Hawks outscored their opponents 16-6 over the weekend, and, since the beginning of their 10-game streak, have outscored challengers 55-26.
“We’re getting contributions from a lot of players,” said Barrett, “Lots of guys have been putting up good numbers, and we take pride in keeping our net as clean as we possibly can. Our two goaltenders have done a good job, and our defence has stepped up and have been playing fantastic.”
Walkerton has four regular season games to go, including one at home on Friday night against Mitchell.