The U15A Image Landscaping Golden Hawks came home as the U15A OMHA Champions during the recent OHMA Championship tournament held in Whitby, from April 1-3, 2022.
On the first day of the tournament, the Hawks faced off against the Milton Winterhawks. Despite being down 2-0 in going into the 2nd period, the Hawks rallied back to finish the game with a 2-2 tie.
The second game of the tournament was versus Essex-Southpoint. Going into the 3rd period, the game was tied 1-1. Then the Hawks scored three goals in the 3rd period, bringing home the big 4-1 win.
Following the round-robin play, the Hawks finished 1st in their group, which resulted in them only needing to play one game on Saturday, in the Quarterfinals versus Orillia. Orillia opened the scoring in the game but quickly after that, the Hawks responded and tied it up 1-1. Then the Hawks steamrolled through the rest of the game, overpowering Orillia in dominating fashion. The Hawks went on to score 5 unanswered goals, finishing the game 6-1.
Early Sunday morning for the semi-final game, the Hawks then found themselves against the New Hamburg Huskies. The Hawks came out to play, they controlled the puck possession throughout the game, were physically dominate and finished with an 8-2 win. Of notable mention, Avery Wease scored 5 goals during the game.
In the Championship Final game, the Hawks faced off against the Owen Sound Jr. Attack. It was an exciting, action-packed game, with tremendous effort put forward by both teams. Owen Sound opening up the scoring in the 1st period, and had the lead 1-0 going into the 2nd period. In the 2nd period, each team came out to play, and scored twice, finishing the period 3-2 for Owen Sound. In the 3rd period, the Hawks came out determined to bring home the Redhats. That determination to win was led by Wease, when he scored 3 goals in the 3rd period, pushing the game out of reach for Owen Sound, final score 5-3 for the Hawks.
The Hawks’ goalies Dryden Riley and Carson Down alternated starting duties between the pipes, and were stellar throughout the whole tournament. The both made huge saves throughout the tournament and were instrumental in bringing home the championship.
Also, of notable mention, were the game MVP awards that were given out during the tournament. Avery Wease took home 3 x MVP awards, and Brock Davy had 2 x MVPs.
Aside from the individual awards, the road to victory during the tournament and throughout the regular season was a complete team effort. To go undefeated throughout the regular season and continue that unbeaten streak throughout the OMHA Championship is extremely commendable, special, and a very rare accomplishment. The coaching staff and parents are very proud and happy for the players, they deserved to win the OMHA Championship.
The parents would also like to thank the coaching staff for their great coaching, mentorship, and giving the boys a season that they will never forget.
Next up for the Hawks, they will host the OHF Championships from April 22-24, 2022.