Polaczek’s three-point performance paces Golden Hawks to 4-0 victory over the Midland Flyers

February 1, 2024 · 0 Comments

By Jim Stewart

Golden Hawks’ leading scorer Patrick Polaczek tallied two goals and an assist to lead Caledon to a 4-0 win over the Midland Flyers in PJHL action on Sunday afternoon at the Mayfield Recreation Complex.

The Golden Hawks closed off the January portion of their schedule with a 3-3 record, including Sunday afternoon’s shutout victory.

Caledon’s Anton Smirnov opened the scoring 48 seconds into the first period when the smooth-skating center fired the puck past Midland netminder Markus Stoikos. Andrew Perrino and Nathan Gelsomini earned assists on Smirnov’s fourth of the season.

Polaczek’s 20th goal, with helpers from Ryan Scott and Nicholas Volpe, gave Caledon a 2-0 lead at 13:07 of the first period.

With Flyers forward Nathan Kowalski in the penalty box for tripping, the Golden Hawks’ power play went to work and converted the extra man opportunity within ninety seconds.

Polaczek, assisted by Volpe and Perrino, tallied his second goal of the game and 21st of the season to give Caledon a three-goal cushion going into the first intermission.

Jacob Altomare gave the Golden Hawks a commanding 4-0 lead at 5:28 of the second period to provide the margin of victory– with assists going to Titus Mok and Polaczek.

Caledon outshot Midland 45-12.

Golden Hawks’ goaltender Marek Andreoli enjoyed a quiet night between the pipes and turned aside all twelve shots he faced to record the shutout. With the W versus the Flyers, Andreoli improved his record to 8-3, lowered his GAA to 2.59, and is now the fifth-ranked goalie in the 61-team PJHL based on SV% at .930.

On Friday night, the Spartans defeated the Golden Hawks 5-3 in front of 155 fans at the Innisfil Recreation Complex. Tanner Kerr-Polgar’s power play goal, his first of five points on the night, opened the scoring at 10:07 to give Innisfil at 1-0 lead. The Golden Hawks tied the game at 18:42 when Anton Smirnov beat Innisfil goaltender Francesco Sciabbarrasi with helpers going to Andrew Perrino and Sam Dean.

However, the Spartans re-claimed the lead fifty-four seconds later when Nick Muraca beat Golden Hawks’ goalie Chad Walker to close the period ahead by one.

The Golden Hawks tallied a pair of power play goals in the middle frame to take a 3-2 lead over the home side when Patrick Polaczek scored at 9:01 and Andrew Perrino scored at 16:21.

Caledon’s tenuous lead held until 3:01 of the final frame when Kerr-Polgar tallied his second goal of the game—a short-handed effort—and the Innisfil forward completed his hat trick at 15:04 to put the Spartans up 4-3. It was Kerr-Polgar’s 15th goal of the season. Angelo Bullock added an empty net goal at 19:22 with Walker pulled for the extra attacker. Kerr-Polgar earned his fifth point when he earned the assist on Bullock’s insurance goal in the waning seconds of the game.

The seventh-place Golden Hawks (12-20-1-2) open the final month of the PJHL regular season in Stayner on Thursday, February 1, when they face off against the perennial powerhouse and second-place Siskins (27-7-0-0) at 8:00 before returning home to host the Midland Flyers (2-30-2-0) at the Mayfield Recreation Complex at 2:30 on Sunday, February 4.