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Golden Hawks bow to Hornets in PJHL playoffs

March 7, 2019   ·   0 Comments

Written By JAKE COURTEPATTE

As is the case year after year, the power and experience of the Alliston Hornets overwhelmed their opponents, beating out the Caledon Golden Hawks in the Provincial Junior Hockey League’s Carruthers division semifinal over the weekend.

The third-ranked Golden Hawks took the best-of-seven series to five games before bowing out, sending the Hornets to the division championship.

Down two games to one heading into the week, Caledon returned to Caledon East Arena for what would be the second and last home game of the postseason in game four, falling 3 – 2 in a tightly played matchup.

Kegan Hoover got his team out front early in front of the hometown fans, posting his fourth goal of the postseason just over two minutes into the second period, though Alliston notched two of their own before the first buzzer.

Taking advantage of a double minor spearing call late in the second on Alliston’s Joey Visconti, Andrew Woods buried for the Golden Hawks to tie it at two heading into the third.

It was Visconti who had the last laugh, however, potting the winning goal on an Alliston powerplay.

Sebastian Woods was stellar between the pipes in stopping forty Alliston shots.

Put into a do-or-die situation for game five, the Hawks were outmatched severely by a Hornets team hungry for another shot at the championship, with a final score of 7 – 1 putting the Golden Hawks season to bed for good.

Fittingly, it was Marc Simonetta that notched the final goal of the season for the Hawks with under a minute to play, one of many in what was a top-five scoring performance league-wide.

Despite the series loss, the Hawks accomplished their most successful season to date, finishing third in league standings while reaching the second round for the third time in the past four seasons.

The program also saw a breakout in scoring that was unmatched in the organization’s nine year history, with captain Matt Magliozzi putting up career numbers in his twilight year.

Magliozzi finished the regular season second in points and goals behind Alliston’s Visconti, posting a total of 36 goals and 78 points. His 42 assists trailed only three other divisional players, including that of Simonetta, who finished one point shy of his teammate to rule the scoring leaderboard.

Woods, a steady presence between the pipes all season for the Golden Hawks, also stood out from his peers in posting the second most wins while also boasting the second highest save percentage.

Meanwhile it’s old hat for the Hornets, who find themselves in the Carruthers division title series for the eleventh year in a row. It will be the first time in three seasons they will not be meeting with the Stayner Siskins, who surprisingly were walked all over by the Penetang Kings in a four-game sweep of their respective semifinal series. Action is set to get underway Thursday evening at Alliston’s New Tecumseh Rec Centre.

The winner will go on to face either the Pollock division Mount Forest Patriots or Wingham Ironmen for the PJHL North conference title.

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