Golden Hawks move into first place after six-point weekend

October 17, 2013 · 0 Comments

The Caledon Golden Hawks are in first place in their Junior C division after posting three wins in their weekend action. Caledon’s Daniel Cafagna battles with a Schomberg Cougars player for control of the puck during Sunday night’s 5-3 victory in Caledon East.
Photo by Brian Lockhart

Caledon Golden Hawks goalie Eric Pitcher pounces on the puck as players swarm the net during the third period of Sunday night’s home game against the Schomberg Cougars. The Hawks won this game 5-3 to go into first place in the GMOHL standings after a six-point weekend.
Photo by Brian Lockhart

By Brian Lockhart
A three-game streak over the weekend has landed the Caledon Golden Hawks in first place in the Georgian Mid Ontario Junior C Hockey League standings.
The Hawks had an outstanding week, beginning with a 3-2 shoot-out win over Schomberg Cougars Thursday night.
Thursday’s game went into overtime in Schomberg when the Cougars tied the game at two in the third period.
With no scoring in the five-minute OT period, the teams returned for a shoot-out and the Hawks left with the win after outscoring Schomberg 2-1 in the one-on-one.
“The shots were a lot my way,” said goalie Eric Pitcher.
Pitcher might have been understating his roll, as he played an outstanding 60 minutes and, as they say in hockey circles, “stood on his head” for this game.
“It was a hard-fought battle in our end,” Pitcher said. “We were pretty strong in the first period, then we ran into a lot of penalty trouble in the second. Then we started back off in the third. We tried to play a solid defensive game.”
“He stole that game for us,” said Hawks’ head coach Sandy McCarthy of Pitcher’s performance on the ice.
The second game of the weekend saw another shoot-out win when the Caledon squad travelled to Orillia to face the Terriers Saturday night.
After playing to a 4-2 lead at the end of the second period, the Hawks dropped the ball and allowed Orillia to get back in the game with two goals that tied it up at four.
Again, no one scored in the overtime period and the teams returned for a shoot-out to settle the matter.
The game ended with a single goal by Derek Czech on his first attempt.
They return to Caledon for their regular Sunday home game had them hosting Schomberg.
This time, the hometown boys led from the start, beginning with two goals in the first period from Adam Breen and Rocky Furfari.
At the end of the second period, the Hawks were leading 4-2 with two second period markers from Steve Zeppieri on a short-handed effort and single from Daniel Cafagna.
The Cougars challenged with a single and again with another early in the third period.
A final goal from Caledon’s Steven Klomp sealed the deal and the Hawks left the ice with their third win in a row.
“Right from the get-go, we stuck to our game, we didn’t hog any pucks and stuck to our coaches game plan,” Pitcher said. “Our first game against Schomberg there was a little bit of running around in our end. Today was pretty good, there was a lot of communication back there.”
“A six-point weekend is very strong for us,” he added. “That’s three games in four days.”
The first game in Schomberg Thursday got pretty rough, with a few scraps in the second period. But coach McCarthy said the players have to look beyond that when the two teams meet for a second game.
“My theory is you’ve got to play with discipline,” he said. “If you don’t, it’s going to cost you games. In the past this team, Caledon, has a reputation for taking a lot of stupid penalties. My theory is, if you don’t take the penalties, you won’t get in trouble and probably win a lot of games.”
The Hawks played a strong defensive game and controlled the puck for much of the match.
“My defence are strong,” McCarthy said. “I think that’s one of the strongest parts of out team right now. We haven’t had a full line-up yet this year. Once we get everybody healthy, it’s going to be a tough team.”
The Hawks will travel to Huntsville to face the Otters tomorrow (Friday).
They return to home ice at the Caledon East arena Sunday (Oct. 20) to host the Orillia Terriers.
The puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m.