WINCHESTER—The Winchester Hawks played a pair of games this past week as they travelled to Renfrew on Tuesday night to take on the Timberwolves in a make-up game and welcomed the Richmond Royals on Friday night.

Hawks 4 Royals 3 (OT)

The Winchester Hawks welcomed the Richmond Royals to the Joel Steele Community Centre on Fri., Feb. 14, in the CCHL2. The Hawks went into the game in fifth place after clinching a playoff spot with a win over the Renfrew Timberwolves in their previous game but still sat seven points behind the fourth place Casselman Vikings. 

The Hawks got off to a good start as Dany Johnson scored his 15th goal of the season from Kyle Kuehni and Garrett Craig at 6:11 of the first period taking a 1-0 lead. The Hawks took a two-goal lead when Nolan Guertin scored his fifth of the season from Logan Schmidt and Colby Schroeder on the power play at 13:43. 

The Royals cut the deficit in half with 1:54 remaining in the opening frame on the power play. The Hawks took a 2-1 lead into the first intermission. The Hawks restored their two-goal lead when Guertin scored his second of the game and sixth of the season from Schroeder at 9:37 of the second period. 

The Royals answered at 15:22 but the Hawks took a 3-2 lead into the second intermission. The Royals knotted the affair at three at 16:37 on the power play. Neither team was able to score before the time expired in regulation so the game headed to a five-minute three-on-three overtime period. 

In the extra frame the Hawks alternate captain, Ryan Nielson ended it, scoring his seventh of the season from Schroeder and Guertin at 1:54 taking the game 4-3. With the victory, the Hawks moved to within five points of the Vikings. 

The Hawks outshot the Royals 60-30. Picking up the win in the Hawks’ goal was Lucas Devries making 27 saves.

Hawks 6 Timberwolves 3

The Winchester Hawks travelled to the Ma-te-Way Activity Centre in Renfrew on Tues., Feb. 11 to take on the Timberwolves in the CCHL2. The Hawks went into the game in fifth place in the Martin Division and looked to clinch a playoff spot with a win. The Hawks sat four points behind the Casselman Vikings who were holding down the fourth position and could be the Hawks first round opponents in the playoffs. 

The Hawks opened the scoring when Kyle Fleming scored his 18th goal of the season unassisted at the seven-minute mark of the first period taking a 1-0 lead. The Timberwolves tied the game at 16:25 and the teams took a one-all draw into the first intermission. 

The Hawks retook the lead when Fleming scored his second of the game and 19th of the season from Danny Johnson at 5:34 of the second period. The Timberwolves countered and tied the game with just 31 seconds remaining in the middle frame as they took a two-all deadlock into the second intermission. 

The Hawks retook the lead when Eric Vitale scored his 29th of the season from Noah Fraser and Colby Schroeder at 4:37 of the third period. The Hawks made it 4-2 when Fleming scored his 20th of the season, completing his hat trick at 7:26 from Logan Schmidt and 5-2 as Schroeder scored his seventh of the season from Fraser and affiliated player, Adam Barkley at 10:48. 

The Timberwolves cut the deficit to two at 13:51. The Timberwolves pulled their goalie in favour of an extra attacker with just under two minutes remaining but the Hawks took advantage as Fleming scored his fourth of the game and 21st of the season into the empty net from Fraser with just five seconds remaining in the game. 

The Hawks took the game 6-3 and clinched a playoff spot for the CCHL2 post season. The Timberwolves outshot the Hawks 43-42. Picking up the win in the Hawks’ goal was Cole Defazio making 40 saves.

Up next

The Winchester Hawks welcome the Alexandria Glens to the Joel Steele Community Centre on Fri., Feb. 21, at 8:15 p.m., travel to the Westport Community Centre on Sat., Feb. 22 to take on the Rideaus at 2 p.m. and to the Char-Lan Recreation Centre in Williamstown on Tues., Feb. 25 to take on the Char-Lan Rebels at 8 p.m.