HAGERSVILLE – It took a shootout to do it, but the Hagersville Hawks pulled out the extra point in a 4-3 shootout win against the visiting Simcoe Storm in Jr. C hockey action. despite outshooting their opponent two to one.
Team points leader Matt Rimic played the hero by scoring the only goal of the first three shooters.
It was scoreless after the first period. Simcoe goalie Nathan McKinnon faced 15 shots while Curtis Dortenzio faced only five Simcoe shots. Derek Friesen drew first blood at 9:41 of the second period from Rimac and Travis Bell, but Tyler Nagy equalized with a successful penalty shot attempt only seconds after the ensuing face off, at 10:15. That was followed at 10:15 by Jamie Kelly’s go-ahead goal at 10:57 from Ricky Johnson.
Friesen evened it up again at 10:37 of the third period getting the assist from Jacob Soloman and Remic and took the lead with a powerplay goal at 18:48 after Simcoe ran into a rash of penalties. Brett Dykstra and Nick Sherwood assisted.
It looked like Hagersville was going to hold on for the win, but at 19:01, Mitch Green was caught with a slashing penalty and an “abuse of official” misconduct. Simcoe took full advantage with almost a full minute of 5-on-3 hockey after pulling their goalie for an added extra attacker. The move paid off with Corson Searles sending the game to overtime at 19:26, unassisted.
No decision was reached in the extra period, sending the game into a shootout to reach a final winner. Remic ended the game in Hagersville’s favour.
Hagersville outshot Simcoe 56-26.
Friday night the Dunnville Mudcats outlasted the Hawks 2-1. After a scoreless first period, Mudcats’ Luke Rowe gave the home team the lead. However, it was short-lived, as Hagersville’s Derek Friesen evened it up at 8:37 with an unassisted powerplay goal. Matt Dolan recorded the game winner at 12:41 from Chad Springer and Dan Arrowsmith.
Hagersville is back in action at home Tuesday night to host the Port Dover Sailors at 7:30 p.m. With the win, they could leap-frog the Hawks into a tie for third place in the tight middle section of the eight team league.
