Golden Hawks win streak snapped in OT loss to Terriers

November 26, 2015 · 0 Comments

By Jake Courtepatte
The winning streak was bound to end eventually, but for the Caledon Golden Hawks, it should have at least extended past Sunday.
A streak of four wins in a row came to a grinding halt with a heartbreaking overtime loss to the Georgian Mid-Ontario Hockey League’s basement-dwelling Orillia Terriers, only their third win at the halfway point of the season.
A 5-0 win over the Erin Shamrocks at Caledon East Friday was indicative of the tenacity of the Hawks’ play as of late, with Sam Procopio earning the shutout in a game where Caledon dominated from the get-go. Through 57 shots, five different Hawks found the back of the net, namely Ryan Mouser, Christian Mariconda, Daniel Cafagna, Randy Chen and Colby Shatilla, his first in a Caledon uniform since joining the Hawks 10 games ago.
Sunday’s matchup initially seemed to be more of the same. Brendam Macham was between the pipes for the Hawks, having proven so far to be the better of the goaltending tandem this year, just edging out veteran Sam Procopio having won four of his last five starts.
Caledon’s play dominated the first period, despite being unable to solve Orillia goaltender Gordie Weiss. Nicholas McNutt had the best chance in the period, splitting both defencemen late in the frame before sending a backhand just off the glove of Weiss.
Mariconda hit the crossbar in the final seconds of the period.
Sniper Daniel Cafagna found the back of the net just 20 seconds into the middle period to open the scoring, off a nice pass out front by Nicholas McNutt.
McNutt has certainly taken his new role as captain this season seriously — he has recently passed perennial team scoring leader Cafagna for first on the Hawks’ roster, with an incredible eight multi-point games over the last 11.
Orillia seemed to bury themselves in the period with penalty after penalty, as most of the action was one-sided. Caledon finally capitalized again during four-on-four play, with Matt Magliozzi surprising Weiss on a wraparound while the goaltender hugged the wrong post.
The third period proved to be the most evenly matched. Macham’s shutout ended on a quick turnaround by Orillia after a John Cyfko breakaway, heading the other way before going bar-down to make it 2-1.
Caledon lost James Pitsadiotis, their most dominant veteran defenceman, to an attempt-to-injure match penalty midway through the third.
Despite killing off the five-minute powerplay, a weakened defence was forced to face a six-on-four attack with Ryan Wonfor in the box for tripping in the final 30 seconds. An intense scrum in front led to Mike Barroso netting the tying goal for the Terriers with 11 seconds left on the clock.
An intense 90 seconds of three-on-three hockey, following a pair of minors in overtime led to some big saves from both goalies, including an incredible diving save by Weiss on Mariconda in which the Caledon forward’s arms were already in celebration mode.
Orilla won the game on a screened slapshot from the point with 10 seconds left in overtime.
The extra point, however, means the Hawks have not lost in regulation time since the beginning of November. Their 9-11-1 record will be put on the line this week against the Schomberg Cougars (8-11-2) on the road tonight (Thursday) and the Huntsville Otters (12-6-2) in Caledon Sunday.
For stats, schedules, and more information, visit www.jrcgoldenhawks.pointstreaksites.com

Caledon’s Seamus O’Neil battles for possession in front of Orillia goalie Gordie Weiss in GMOHL action Sunday night. The Golden Hawks fell to the Terriers 3 – 2 in overtime.
Photo by Jake Courtepatte