The look on Coach Brett McCully’s face displayed his disappointment briefly as he rubbed his forehead in frustration after the disappointing outcome.
The Men’s Hockey team lost 1-0 during a shootout in the semifinals to the George Brown Huskies after a promising start to their tournament.
Hawks were unable to score and the game ended in a shootout. Chase Dowell, Eric Fraser-Moore and John Ruppert all failed to convert on their opportunities, allowing the lone Huskies goal to determine the winner and push the Hawks to elimination.
Despite the lack of scoring when it mattered, the visibly flustered coach couldn’t help but sense optimism for his team.
In the first game of the tournament, the Hawks faced the University of Toronto Mississauga Eagles and secured a 3-0 victory last Friday. The lone goal by Chase Dowdle in the first period stood as the eventual game winner. With under six minutes to play, Shawn Rooke drove the puck past the Eagle’s goaltender to lock the game away.
Despite the victory, the Hawks had six penalties but it didn’t seem to be breaking their momentum.
They easily won their second game 4-1, with the two goals in the first period by Lucas Del Plavignano.
But the team also gave the coach his second headache in the process by collecting seven penalties, while not being able to capitalize on their power plays.
“You play for the crest on the front, not for the name on the back,” McCully said. “Just shoot the puck.
In the semi-final match, the Hawks collected an additional six penalties, giving them 19 in only three games, but they managed to kill all of them off. The Hawks also had 16 powerplays but failed to score on any of them.
Even though a loss can be difficult, Hawks rookie forward Eric Murray knows how these things are a learning process.
Fans can get flustered as well while attending games, especially when the goaltender is your son.
Walter Porretta knows the game within the game that goalies face.
“Shootouts is a tough way to lose a game,” Walter said of his son Nicolas. “With a little more luck in the end, but they played well all around, maybe more work on the powerplay.” Despite the Dr. Jeykll and Mr. Hyde performance, the goaltending was a lone clear bright spot from the tournament.
The two goalies Andrew Robb and Nicolas Porretta only allowed one goal each in their combined three starts and earned a lot of love from the coach. The Hawks will now have a lone exhibition game on Dec. 4 against the Blyth Academy before their next tournament on Jan. 18 at the Seneca Newnham campus.