HAGERSVILLE—There is a growing confidence coming from the Hagersville Hawks organization.
Occupying third place in the overall standings with a 15-4-1-2 record, the Hawks closed out November on a strong note as they defeated on Friday, November 22nd the Grimsby Peach Kings by a 4-3 overtime score before eight days later coming home and earning a 7-2 Saturday night win against the Hespeler Shamrocks.
“We have been forechecking with a purpose and coming in as a unit so it’s hard for other teams to get the puck out of their zone,” Hawks veteran forward Tycie Cowan said in regards to his team’s success.
Talking about the streak which has seen Hagersville pick up two wins in their past three games Cowan replied, “It’s (confidence) completely different. It’s (dressing room) a great atmosphere to walk into and helps build confidence in young guys.”
Approximately three weeks after defeating Hespeler 2-0 in their own barn, the Hawks got off to a strong start in the much anticipated match-up as they exploded in a little under eight minutes with four first period goals from Ralph Taggart on the power play, Alastair Irvine, Taggart with his second and Luke Erauw for a commanding 4-0 lead.
“The team just stuck to our game and battled every time we were faced with adversity,” Cowan said. “We were just that much better than our opponent.”
Continuing to produce, Taggart with 56 seconds remaining in the first completed the hattrick with his second power play marker as Hagersville took a 5-1 lead into the second period.
It was a scoreless penalty filled second period which included a variety of fights including Cowan who a little over seven minutes held his own as he was involved in fisticuffs which earned him a fighting major and game misconduct.
Hagersville, who outshot Hespeler 26-14 on the night, managed consecutive third period tallies from Erauw with his second and with under seven minutes remaining Alex Milanovich as they went on to earn a pivotal two valuable points.
“Since the beginning we have showed improvement in our systematic game where we pick up a man coming back into our defensive zone,” Cowan said.
