Exeter Hawks fall 4-1 to Mt. Brydges in midweek tilt

The Mount Brydges Bulldogs peppered Exeter Hawks goalie Tim Kerkhoff with 37 shots and pulled out a 4-1 win Tuesday evening at the South Huron Recreation Centre.

Jack McDonald (Elora, Ont.) had the lone Exeter goal, on a power play in the first period.

Liam O’Shea (St. Joseph, Ont.) and Sam Dupuis (Bayfield, Ont.) assisted on the Exeter tally, as the Hawks fell to sixth place in the Provincial Junior (‘C’) Hockey League’s West Yeck Division.

The Hawks have shown flashes of promise, but are still trying to find their footing in the season’s early going.

They’ll aim to rebound Friday at home to the seventh-place Aylmer Spitfires.  

Bulldogs strike first

Mount Brydges forward Jack Frazer opened the scoring 4:38 into the first period Tuesday, with an assist from Lucas Balanca.

Exeter’s McDonald tied it 1-1 late in the frame, but the Bulldogs added an unassisted powerplay goal with just 10 seconds left in the second period from Nolan Griffiths to regain the lead.

Bulldogs forward Ben Landers added some insurance midway through the third period, with a powerplay goal assisted by Blake Griffiths.

Bulldogs forward Diego Sabino later scored an empty-netter to ice the victory.

Quinton Duncan made 23 saves in net for Mt. Brydges and nabbed the team’s second win of the season. The Bulldogs improve to 2-2-0-0 and sit fourth in division standings

Both teams reportedly had 26 penalty minutes on nine infractions apiece, and Mt. Brydges was 2/6 on the powerplay while the Hawks went 1/5.

Nolan Griffiths (first), Landers (second) and McDonald (third) were the game’s three stars.