The Hawks’ forward, Eric Vitale (24) gets a semi breakaway on the Panthers’ goalie, William Nguyen and was able to tuck in the top shelf to tie the game at one in the first period. The Panthers would get the last laugh, scoring 16 seconds into overtime to beat the Hawks 4-3. Moore photo

ARNPRIOR—The Winchester Hawks played a pair of games this past weekend as they welcomed the Embrun Panthers on Friday night and travelled to Arnprior on Sunday night to take on the Packers.

Hawks 5 Packers 4

The Winchester Hawks travelled to the Nick Smith Arena in Arnprior on Sun., Nov. 3, to take on the Packers in the CCHL2. The Hawks were coming off a tough 4-3 loss to their division rivals the Embrun Panthers in their previous game, slipping into fifth place in the Martin Division. 

The Packers sat in sixth place in the Richardson Division with a .500 record. The Hawks opened the scoring when Ryan Nielson scored his third goal of the season from Eric Vitale and Kyle Kuehni at 12:06 of the first period, taking a 1-0 lead. 

The Hawks took the 1-0 lead into the first intermission. The Packers tied the game at 6:58 of the second period but the Hawks retook the lead when Kyle Fleming swatted home his eighth of the season from Noah Weatherall at 15:07. 

The Hawks made it 3-1 when Kuehni scored his fifth of the campaign from Danny Johnson and Vitale on the power play at 17:54. It appeared the Hawks were going to take a two-goal lead into the second intermission but the Packers got to within one with just 13 seconds remaining in the second period. The Hawks took a 3-2 lead into the second intermission. 

The Hawks made it 4-2 as Kuehni scored his second of the game and sixth of the season at 4:03 of the third period from Nielson and Colby Schroeder. The Hawks kept the pressure on and took a three-goal lead at 5:10 as Vitale scored his fourth of the season from Fleming and Nielson. 

The Packers got one back just eight seconds later as former Hawk, Joel Driscoll potted one gaining his old team. The Packers got to within one at 6:20 but the Hawks defence and goalie, Cole Defazio held the Packers off the score sheet for the remainder of the game taking it 5-4. 

With the win, the Hawks moved to within three points of the Ottawa West Golden Knights with a game in hand. The Packers outshot the Hawks 41-35. Picking up the win in the Hawks’ goal was Defazio making 37 saves.

Panthers 4 Hawks 3 (OT)

The Winchester Hawks welcomed the Embrun Panthers to the Joel Steele Community Centre on Fri., Nov. 1, in the CCHL2. The Hawks were coming off a home and home split with the Brockville Tikis and sat in fifth place in the Martin Division five points behind the Ottawa West Golden Knights. 

The Panthers opened the scoring at 7:20 of the first period as Tyler Cummins scored his second goal of the season from Carter Peck and Eric Skyba taking a 1-0 lead. The Hawks tied the game when Eric Vitale scored his third of the season on a breakaway at 10:24 unassisted. 

The teams took a one-all draw in the the first intermission. The Hawks took their first lead of the game when Kyle Kuehni scored his fourth of the season from Marco Haw and Danny Johnson just 10 seconds into the second period. 

The Panthers tied the game again at 17:44 as Luke Peck scored his first of the season from Jarrett Ladouceur and Marshall Drevniok on the power play. The teams took a two all draw into the second intermission. The Panthers retook the lead when Ladouceur scored his fourth of the season, unassisted at 8:41.

The Hawks rebounded with a goal with just 2:44 remaining in regulation as Nicolas Corry scored his second of the season from Ryan Nielson. Neither team was able to score before the time expired in regulation so the game headed to a five-minute three-on-three overtime frame. 

The Panthers ended the game just 22 seconds into overtime as Beaudoin scored his 11th of the season from Mathieu Brennan on the power play, ending the game with a 4-3 victory. The Panthers outshot the Hawks 42-36. 

Picking up the win in the Panthers’ goal was William Nguyen making 33 saves and suffering the loss in the Hawks’ goal was Lucas Devries making 38 saves.

Up next

The Winchester Hawks welcome the Richmond Royals to the Joel Steele Community Centre on Fri., Nov. 8, at 8:15 p.m. and travel to the Carleton Place Arena on Sat., Nov. 9 to take on the Canadians at 8:15 p.m.