By Darryl G. Smart

Hawks still unbeaten in 2020
Three big wins have the Hagersville Hawks Jr C Hockey within striking distance of the Provincial Junior Hockey League’s Bloomfield Division lead.
A very busy few days began with a three goal outburst in the third period led to a 6-4 road win over the Niagara RiverHawks Jr. Hockey Club Thursday.
After giving up three goals in the first period, the Hawks had to claw its way out of a hole. And thanks to third period goals from Tycie Cowan, Jayden Lammel and Luke Erauw gave the Hawks the victory.
Connor Stirling scored the lone goal of the first period, while Matt Weston and Brendan Judson added goals in the second period.
Jayden Engberts, Carter LeRoux, Reid Lowe, and Keith Palmer responded for the RiverHawks.
Saturday at home, Avery Hartwick slammed the door shut making 25 saves, in a 5-1 win over the Dundas Blues.
Harrison Larochelle, Peter Cappucci, Ralph Taggart, Erauw, and Judson scored for the Hawks.
Danny Attridge scored the lone Blues marker in the first period.
On Sunday, the Hawks were back at it, this time on the road. Cappucci and Sandy Porter scored first period goals to lead the way to a 4-2 win over the Port Dover Sailors.
Patrick Sanelli and Wesley Frtiz added to the cause, while Jamie Ferguson was solid between the pipes in a 32-stop effort.
Nicolas d’Agostino and George Kapralos responded for the Sailors during a five minute stretch midway through the second period.
With the three victories, the Hawks now sit in third place with a 24-7-2-2 record. They are one point back of the Glanbrook Rangers and three behind the first-place Grimsby Peach Kings.
Tuesday, the Hawks kick off a busy week when they host the Dunnville Mudcats at 8:30pm. Wednesday they are in Glanbrook, before hosting the Peach Kings Saturday. Both of those games are at 7:30pm.

Sailors split
Before dropping its 4-2 decision to the Hagersville Hawks Sunday, the Port Dover Sailors slipped by the Dunnville Jr. Mudcats Friday on the road.
During the Provincial Junior Hockey League Bloomfield Division tilt, Chris Giroday gave the Sailors a 1-0 lead after 20 minutes.
Brent Mio and Ben Mason then added to the lead in the second period, before Noah Bourdon scored the lone Mudcats goal in the third.
Andrew Hawkins got the win, making 25 stops, while Austin Davison was a workhorse once again, making 33 saves to keep his team in the game.
With its 10-23-2-1 record, the Sailors and Mudcats are tied with 23 points each at the bottom of the PJHL Bloomfield Division standings.
This week the Sailors embark on a four games in five days stretch. Wednesday they hit the road against the Hespeler Jr C Shamrocks at 8pm, and then against the Dundas Blues Thursday at 7:30pm. The Sailors return home for games Saturday at 7:30pm and Sunday at 2pm against the Niagara RiverHawks.
The Mudcats are on the road against the Hagersville Hawks Tuesday at 8:30pm, before hosting the RiverHawks Friday at 7:30pm.

Bulldogs show plenty of fight
The Burford Bulldogs Junior Hockey Club showed plenty of fight in a pair of Provincial Junior Hockey League Doherty Division games.
After losing a tight 1-0 game to the Paris Mounties Jr Hockey four days before, they dropped a hard-fought 7-5 decision to the Ayr Centennials.
Jacob Kelly was the catalyst for the Bulldogs, scoring three goals, while Connor McPhee, and Derick DaSilva added one each.
Matt Patton led the Centennials with a pair of goals, while Jake Ertel, Calan Tanzi-Foshay, Kobe Roe, and Curtis Anderson added singles.
Caleb Ursu saw plenty of rubber come at him, making 48 stops.
Now at 4-29-1-1, the Bulldogs host the Wellesley Applejacks Tuesday at 8pm. Wednesday they hit the road to take on the Delhi Travellers at 8:30pm, before taking on the Tavistock Braves Friday at 7:30pm, also on the road.

Tough weekend for Merchants
It was a rare weekend for the Norwich Jr C Merchants.
It’s not often you see the Merchants drop two games in two days, but that’s what happened this weekend.
Friday at home, the Merchants couldn’t get anything by Griffin Murphy, while his New Hamburg Firebirds teammates had five different goal scorers in a 5-0 win.
Ryan Shaw, Ryan George, Brady Schmidt, Cedrik Roth, and Matt Mercier all scored for the Firebirds.
The next night in Wellesley, Jake Luke scored twice, but it wasn’t enough, as the Applejacks came away with a 4-2 victory.
Justin McCombs led the way for the Applejacks with two goals of his own, while, Austin Cousineau and Shaun Pickering added singles.
The two defeats drops the Merchants record to 17-14-2.
Friday they get a chance to bounce back at home against the Ayr Centennials at 8pm, before taking on the Paris Mounties Saturday, on the road at 7:20pm.

Mounties bounce back
After a couple of tough losses, the Paris Mounties rebounded Saturday night with a 6-3 win over the Woodstock Navy Vets at home.
After getting down 3-1 early in the second period, the Mounties came roaring back, netting five unanswered goals from Jack Gee, Brendan Bauer, Matt Mueller, Brock Emrich, and Kyle Brezinski.
Will Hurley had the other Mounties goal.
Chris Thompson, Tom McFarlane, and Kurtis Christo scored for the Navy Vets.
Tarin Pennington was fantastic between the pipes for the Mounties, making 40 stops.
The weekend started early, on Thursday, with Justin Hergott making 43 stops in a losing effort, as the Mounties dropped a 2-1 decision to the Ayr Centennials.
Matt Patton and Curtis Anderson scored for the Centennials, while Brad Oldroyd netted the lone Mounties goal.
On Friday, Hergott was again fantastic in a losing effort making 49 shots in a 3-2 loss to the Tavistock Braves.
Brezinski and Oldroyd scored for the Mounties.
Josh Helgerman, Zac Berg and Zach Gladding scored in the winning cause for the Braves.
The Mounties are now 18-13-2-1 in a very tight Provincial Junior Hockey League Doherty Division. They’re five points behind the fourth-place Navy Vets and three ahead of the Norwich Merchants.
Friday they are on the road against the Wellesley Applejacks at 8pm, before returning home Saturday against the Merchants at 7:20pm.

Travellers in tough
It’s a tough go when you give up 170 shots in two hockey games.
That is not a typo.
The Delhi Travellers Jr. C continued its struggles this weekend in Provincial Junior Hockey League Doherty Division action.
Friday on the road, they gave up 91 shot in a 14-2 loss to the Woodstock Navy Vets.
Braydon Verschveren and Marshall Baker scored for the Travellers.
Trent Lamarche led the way with the hat trick for the Navy Vets, while Drew Woods and Noah Kirk added two goals each. Noah Burns, Aiden Krueger, Reade MacInnis, Jacob Rooke, Quinton Stronach, Eric Tuori, and Kyle Walker all added one goal.
On Sunday in Wellesley, the Applejacks fired 79 shots the Travellers way in a 23-1 win.
Brendan Briggs scored the lone Travellers goal.
Kyle Fischer and Shaun Pickering led the Applejacks with four goals each, while Daniel McCutcheon, Koby Seiling, and Zachary Lyons added a hat trick apiece. Steven DeGroot, and Justin McCombs each added two goals, while Gianfranco Commisso, and Carson Wickie pitched in with one each.
The Travellers are now 0-32.
They will try to get back on track Tuesday, when they travel to Ayr to take on the Centennials at 8pm, before they head to Tavistock Friday to tangle with the Braves at 7:30pm.

Photo by Censational Photography