Golden Hawks’ winless streak reaches eight games

October 17, 2016 · 0 Comments

By Jake Courtepatte
It may be a long year for the Caledon Golden Hawks of the Provincial Junior Hockey League.
The team continues to grasp at victory, only to come up short at the end of 60 minutes.
The junior C club added two more losses to a growing streak over the weekend, now having lost eight games in a row just before the one-quarter mark of the season.
On the road Friday night in Huntsville, the Hawks were up against an Otters team that has also struggled offensively early in the season. It was Caledon who got on the board first, when Hughie Sheppard buried a solo effort for his first junior hockey point.
A goaltending battle then ensued between Caledon’s Jason Cumbo and Huntsville’s Connor Christanson, before Cumbo’s shutout was broken in the late stages of the second period. By the three minute mark of the final frame, Huntsville had added two more, for a 3-1 lead they took right to the final buzzer.
Cumbo made 26 stops on 29 shots, as Caledon outshot their opponent in each of the three periods.
Hosting Stayner in Sunday’s weekly home game at Caledon East, the Hawks took swift advantage of the Siskins playing their backup goaltender rather than the undefeated Hayden Ford.
Veteran Kevin Pleasance opened the scoring at the midway mark of the first period, the only goal of the frame. The two teams exchanged power-play goals in the second, before Pleasance added his second of the game late in the period to take a 3-1 lead into the third.
However, Caledon fell apart defensively in the final 20 minutes, allowing four straight Stayner goals in a matter of 12 minutes. Pleasance countered with his hat trick goal in the final minute, before Stayner added an empty netter for a 6-4 win.
With two Schomberg Cougar wins over the weekend, the Hawks have been left behind to scrape the bottom of the Carruthers division basement. Their 1-8-0 record comes with an 0-4-0 record at home, leaving them four points behind the Cougars in last place in the eight-team division.
As expected, the Alliston Hornets continue to lead the charge, by virtue of their astounding 45 goals for compared to only 15 against in eight games. They are undefeated in those eight, a streak that runs 35 games into last year’s GMOHL season — when the Hawks bested the Hornets Oct. 25.
Though nary a match against the reigning league champs for the next five weeks, Caledon will be forced to contend with a Siskins squad this Thursday who boast a 5-2-0 record and a similar stat line to Alliston. In only seven games this season, the Siskins have put up one more goal than the Hornets.
Interestingly enough, the Hawks and Siskins are the only two teams in the Carruthers division yet to win on home ice, despite Stayner’s stellar record.
The Hawks are in Midland Friday to visit the Flyers (4-4-0), before returning home for their weekly match Sunday, when Midland visits Caledon East.
For stats, schedules and more information, visit www.jrcgoldenhawks.pointstreaksites.com

Caledon captain Nicholas McNutt plants himself in front of the Stayner net at the Caledon Community Complex Sunday. The Golden Hawks gave up four unanswered goals in a 6 – 4 loss to the Siskins.
Photo by Jake Courtepatte