Win over Stayner moves Golden Hawks into third place

December 5, 2013 · 0 Comments

By Brian Lockhart
A shot to the top corner of the Stayner Siskins’ net in the third period by Caledon forward Steve Zeppieri clinched Sunday’s game for the Golden Hawks at Caledon East.
The win places the junior C Golden Hawks in third place in the Georgian Mid Ontario Hockey League.
The Caledon squad was leading 1-0 at the end of the first period on a single from Cody Forgione.
Considering the Golden Hawks gave up five powerplay opportunities to the Stayner squad, but didn’t allow a goal, was impressive.
The Siskins also spent eight minutes in the box in the first period.
Neither team scored in the second period. Stayner got one early in the third, but Zeppieri’s goal at the 6:41 mark sealed the deal when the Hawks managed to defend their zone for the rest of the game.
Zeppieri said the team captains stepped up for the game when coach Sandy McCarthy couldn’t make the game for personal reasons.
“With no coach, I thought we had to pull it together as a team,” Zeppieri said, “All the leaders pulled together to set everything straight to play the game we normally play.”
It was a very physical game from the get-go — something Zeppieri said was unexpected.
“It was all right, but we didn’t expect hits like that right away,” he commented. “But we weathered the storm. There was a lot of intensity. It was a back-and-forth game with odd-man rushes.”
Stayner came to the game as a fifth-place team with 13 wins behind them and 28 points — six behind the Golden Hawks.
“It was a big game for both teams,” Zeppieri said. “I found it was a pretty chippy game for the most part, but that’s just hockey.”
It was the second weekend win for the Golden Hawks.
Saturday night (Nov. 30), the Hawks travelled to Erin and delivered a 9-2 slam to the Shamrocks.
Overall in the GMOHL the Penetang Kings are still in first place with 44 points.
The Kings were upset Sunday by a 4-3 overtime loss to the seventh place Fergus Devils.
The Alliston Hornets are in second place with 37 points.
Alliston also gave up a couple of points over the weekend with an unexpected 1-0 loss the Orillia Terriers.
The Caledon win drops the Schomberg Cougars into fourth place.
The Golden Hawks will travel to Penetang tomorrow (Friday) to face the Kings.
They return to home ice at Caledon East Sunday to host the Alliston Hornets.
Game time is 7 p.m.

Caledon Golden Hawks forward Rocky Furfari looks for an opening in front of the Stayner Siskins’ goal during Sunday night’s game at Caledon East. The Golden Hawks moved into third place in the GMOHL with a 2-1 win over Stayner.
Photo by Brian Lockhart