Golden Hawks fighting for playoff positioning in PJHL

Written By JAKE COURTEPATTE

The toughest road still lies ahead for the Caledon Golden Hawks in the Provincial Junior Hockey League.

The Golden Hawks have dropped three straight games between the Stayner Siskins and Alliston Hornets, the only teams above Caledon in the Carruthers division standings.

Looking to avenge last Sunday's 9 – 3 home loss at Caledon East Arena to Stayner, the Golden Hawks travelled to the Siskins' barn on Thursday for their last regular season matchup.

In what could easily be a preview of the divisional championship, the Siskins once again took it to the Golden Hawks in the first period, slinging plenty of pucks at goaltender Dylan Cox to take an early 3 – 0 lead.

Despite a pair of early second period goals from Kegan Hoover and captain Matt Magliozzi, the Hawks came up just short of a comeback before Stayner put the game away for good by a score of 6  -3.

Magliozzi notched the final goal of the game late on the powerplay.

It was a case of deja-vu on Sunday when the Alliston Hornets came to The Nest in Caledon East for a crucial matchup, with just one point separating the two teams in the standings.

This time it was Caledon who opened the scoring early, with Marc Simonetta burying one just over a minute in, before adding his team leading thirty-second of the season late in a period that ended 2 – 2.

Magliozzi gave the Hawks the lead midway through the second from Simonetta and Jake Semmens, though four straight Alliston goals, including a pair of empty netters, closed out the game in favour of the Hornets 6 – 3.

Starter Sebastian Woods was back between the pipes, putting up a solid effort in stopping 30 of the 34 pucks he faced.

A front-heavy regular season schedule has the Golden Hawks with just two games left before the postseason, while others in the division have up to six remaining. Caledon will face Penetang this Friday in a road matchup that may be a preview of the PJHL's first round, with the third-place Golden Hawks aligned with the sixth-place Kings.

Caledon leads the season series between the two clubs three games to two.

The schedule closed out in Caledon East, with the Golden Hawks hosting the Schomberg Cougars for a 7p.m. puck drop.

Three points separate the Golden Hawks (24-13-2-1) and the second-place Hornets (26-9-1-1), though Alliston has three games in hand.

Fourteen points separate Caledon from the fourth-place Orillia Terriers (17-15-1-2).

The Hawks could be without two of their top point producers to close out the season, with both Young and Woods placed on league suspension.

For stats, schedules, and more information, visit www.jrcgoldenhawks.pointstreaksites.com.