To say the boys had a good couple of weeks would be an understatement. Last week, the WarHawks beat the #1 team in the Central Division when they split the weekend against the St Louis Jr Blues. This past weekend, the boys defeated the #3 Mason City Toros and the #4 Alexandria Blizzard. They have now won 5 out of the last 6 games. No small feat and help them inch closer to a playoff spot already.
Friday night was Veterans night and the boys debuted their Military jerseys. Every season they seem to get better and better and this season was no exception. The Toros made their trip north to come play the boys and wanted some revenge. The last two times the two teams played, the WarHawks beat them in their barn when they were the #1 and #2 team in the extremely tough West Division. And like both of those games, the first period was a lot of the same. Both teams had chances, they scored, the boys scored, they got 3 penalties, we got 2 penalties etc. It was anyone’s game at that point.
The boys came out for warmies to the delight of the crowd. The Military jerseys were on full display in all their glory. As mentioned before, about halfway through the first period, the Toros sneak one in on a power play. One minute and 7 seconds later, the WarHawks answer. The boys go on a power play and score within three seconds. Domagala wins the faceoff and gets the puck back to Wendorff who shoots. Elliot Domagala was screening in front of the net and finds the rebound to tie it up.
2nd period starts and the boys find themselves in their offensive zone for what felt like an eternity about five minutes into the period. K. Jackson gets pinned in the near side corner and that’s when M. Jackson came in for support. Puck pops up to the half wall where Wanka gets the puck our to McGillis who was waiting on the blue line. McGillis fires as Kaiden Jackson creeps up to the near side post, K. Jackson tips the puck with the shaft of his stick, besting the the Toros tendy. Just like every game before against the Toros, Mason City ties it back up ten minutes later. What was different is what happens next. The flood gates open up. Wanka dumps the puck in from the neutral zone as K. Jackson gives chase. K. Jackson gains possession and finds Max Jackson who’s crashing the net for what turned out to be the game winning goal. Twenty seven seconds later the boys have great pressure in the offensive zone once again. Vaculik shoots from the blue line and the puck ends up behind the net where Callaghan gains possession and feeds it to the slot. Dylan Mees comes flying in from the blue line and scores, blocker side.
Mason Wanka scores twice in the 3rd and Gabe Adams finishes them off with the seventh goal of the night. What started as a closely contested game, ended in an absolute stomping of the Toros. Final score 7-2. Sam Moen saw 45 shots, saving 43, with an amazing 96% save percentage.
Saturday night the boys made the trip to Alexandria to take on the Blizzard for the fourth time this season. The WarHawks had lost the first three games against the Blizzard but had cut down the goals against each time. The last time they faced them, the boys lost a nail biting 1-2 game.
As expected, 1st period was full of chances for both teams but remained scoreless. A big reason for this was Moen in net. Even the opposing teams announcer couldn’t believe how well he played and made numerous remarks saying so.
2nd period is when the game got intense and felt like the game was slipping away from the WarHawks grasp. A little over seven minutes in, Adams brings the puck into the offensive zone a little outside the slot and shoots hard at the goalies leg pad. Mees joined the rush as a defenseman and gets a rebound that pops out to a crashing Elliot Domagala who scores. The lead and excitement only lasted a little over five minutes because the Blizzard score two short handed goals on the same penalty kill. How the WarHawks were able to bounce back from that alone is still astonishing. The period ended with a Blizzard lead, 1-2, and all the momentum.
Something changed when the 3rd period started. Still not sure what it was that sparked the team but they came out firing on all cylinders, scoring 4 unanswered goals. A minute and 37 seconds after puck drop, Gabe Adams steals a pass in the neutral zone during a penalty kill. Adams goes backhand to forehand and shoots above the Blizzard goalies glove to start the unraveling of the Blizzards momentum. Three minutes later, the boys get the puck low in the offensive zone. K. Jackson feeds the puck up to his cousin M. Jackson who’s waiting at the blue line. M. Jackson feeds the puck to Dylan Mees who walks it in and shoots two hole. Three minutes and five seconds later, Wanka wanted to be part of the action. Wanka makes a zone entry by the far boards and dumps it. M. Jackson gives it to Domagala who is just above the goal line to the right of the net. Domagala passes to Mason Wanka who had crept in from the blue line and he scores as the Blizzard tendy tries to slide post to post. The boys keep a two goal lead for nine minutes. That is until the Blizzard pull their goalie and Logan Woods is able to get his second empty netter of the season. Sam Moen had another unbelievable night between the pipes. Moen saw 45 shots, saving 43, with a 96% save percentage.
Boys hit the road this weekend to take on the Wilderness on Friday and the Blizzard on Saturday. The WarHawks are back on home ice Friday, Nov 28th to take on the Alexandria Blizzard. Get your tickets here:
