The feeling around the rink Friday morning was intense during morning skate. Everyone knew the next two games were do or die for the WarHawks. Determined doesn’t sum up the looks on the boy’s face as they embarked on their trip to Blaine to take on the Moose. They knew they were fighting to keep their season going this weekend. Being underestimated isn’t new to this group of players. And they showed why this past weekend.
Friday’s first period was picture perfect for the WarHawks. Yes, the Moose got on the board in the first 5 minutes but this team plays better under the gun. Hawks had multiple power play opportunities and the boys stayed out of the box. You could just feel that one was about to go in for the good guys but as the time wind down you were left wondering if it would. With only 40 seconds left, the boys get the puck deep in the offensive zone. 30 seconds left, a good forecheck led to a turnover. 20 seconds left, shot from the slot goes wide to the near corner. 15 seconds left, multiple cycles in the corner and intense battle for possession. With only 10 seconds left, Domagala passes the puck to Montgomery on the goal line. Henry Schultz (4)(Montgomery 13, Domagala 2) gets a pass from Montgomery at the top of the right circle and snipes it glove side. GOAL!
Second period was much like the first, multiple 5 v 5 opportunities but the puck just wouldn’t go past the Moose tendy. That is until the boys went on a power play with a little over 2 minutes left in the period. A minute and a half went by in the PP and Irion passed the puck to Adams at the top of the near circle. He shoots and the puck pops out by the far side post where Kaiden Jackson (3)(Irion 20, Montgomery 14) tapped it in backhand to take the lead. 30 seconds later, Callaghan passed the puck up to Domagala for a zone exit. Domi got the puck to M. Jackson with Domi crashing the net. M. Jackon made a beautiful backhand sauce pass to Elliot Domagala (1)(M. Jackson 6, Callaghan 20) who deked the goalie with an incredible backhand top shelf shot. And just like that, 3-1 WarHawks! If you’re a hockey fan, you know never to trust a two goal lead and that the last minute of a period is the most dangerous. With only 20 seconds left in the period, the Moose proved why both those things are true as they scored. Ok, now it’s a game.
Third period was as intense as a hockey period could be. On one bench, the Moose were trying to ruin the chances of the WarHawks playoff hopes. On the away bench, the boys were desperate to keep a one goal lead and keep their postseason hopes alive. That went on for what felt like an eternity. The Moose elected to pull their goalie with 1:59 left in the 3rd to try and tie it up to send the game into overtime. After a botched clearing attempt, the Moose defenseman on the far side blue line tried to do a D to D pass, big mistake. Zane Irion (15) poke checked the pass, sending the puck all the way down to the near side hash marks. Irion, winning the foot race, easily put the puck in the back of the empty net. Kai Girard saw 38 shots, saving 36, with a 95% save percentage.
Saturday was a quick turn around as the boys had to come back to the rink at 5am to make the long trip down to north Iowa for a noon start time to take on the Toros. Normally, that kind of lack of rest would be worrisome but not for this group. It was time to go to work. All the work they put in this season came down to one game.
Didn’t take long for the boys to get on the board and get a 2 goal lead. Gabriel Adams (17)(Irion 21, Hinze 31) was the first to score a dirty goal off of Irion’s shot. And then a minute later Henry Schultz (5)(Callaghan 21) shot from the blue line, besting the Toros tendy on the far post. Toros were able to get a goal with less than 30 seconds left in the first.
Toros thought they’d make the game interesting by tying the game up a minute and 40 seconds into the 2nd period. It’s 0-0 now boys, what will the team do knowing their season is on the line. Walker McGillis (1)(M. Jackson 7, Callaghan 22) decided he wanted to score his first WarHawk goal in the biggest game of the season. And score he did off of a pass from the goal line by M. Jackson. Not to be outdone by McGillis, the Toros weren’t done shooting and tied the game up again two minutes later. Timothy Vaculik (5)(Montgomery 15, Adams 12) scored at the tail end of a WarHawks power play to finish the scoring from both teams for the 2nd period
3rd period, post season on the line for both teams, who wants it more? Gabe Adams (18)(Hinze 32, Irion 22) got what ended up being the game winning goal from a pass in the corner from Hinze to give the boys a 2 goal lead. Uh oh, there’s that 2 goal lead thing again. Yup, you guessed it. There was a little fight left in the Toros and they scored with six minutes left in the 3rd. Toros pulled their goalie with a few minutes left in the game, all they need to do is send it into overtime. Owen Amon (2)(Montgomery 16) had a beautiful forecheck which lead to a Toros player losing an edge, and Amon capitalized scoring an empty netter. Game, set, playoffs! Kai Girard saw 31 shots, saving 27 with an 87% save percentage.
