Hawks win, McLlwain nabs his first OHL goal, and South Huron grabs second in H-P baseball
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Exeter Hawks outlast Thamesford Trojans rally in 8-5 win
It didn’t take long for the Exeter Hawks to solve Thamesford Trojans goalie Spencer Mace.
In barely more than 12 minutes of play in the first period of their Friday evening tilt in Thamesford, the Hawks dumped five goals on the Trojans starter.
But after Mace was pulled in favour of backup Jacob Harford, the Trojans mounted a steady comeback that peaked in the third period and fell two goals short.
The Hawks escaped with an 8-5 victory and sit fourth in the Provincial Junior (‘C’) Hockey League West Yeck Division with 14 points.
Thamesford is still in first place (17 points), ahead of second-place North Middlesex (16 points) and third-place Dorchester (14 points).
Mace entered the game with a 6-0 record and 2.77 goals against average on the season but couldn’t withstand the Hawks’ first-period barrage.
Exeter forward Jack McDonald scored twice on Mace in the first period, and Mitchell Kenney, Liam O’Shea and Sam Dupuis scored once to give Exeter a 5-0 lead.
Ryan Gibbings added an unassisted goal later in the frame on Harford, and it was 6-0 Hawks at the break.
Thamesford struck back with second-period goals from Curtis Topp and Nathan Marques, but Hawks defenceman Jack Robinson added one of his own.
The Hawks led 7-2 after 40 minutes.
In the third period, the Trojans made a furious attempt to climb back into the game.
They outshot the Hawks 20-10 in the frame and saw goals from Kyle Pizzey, Clayson Goymour and Jonathan Diver, but fell short.
Hawks defenceman Connor Aarts added an empty-netter with 29 seconds left in the game to make it 8-5 Hawks.
McDonald assisted on the goal, giving him three points on the night and 13 points for the season. He has a narrow lead over Dupuis and O’Shea (11 points apiece) in the Hawks scoring race.
Tim Kerkhoff went the distance in net for Exeter, making 40 saves in his fifth win of the season.
The victory capped a stellar October for the Hawks, with four wins and one overtime loss.
Their first November game is Thursday (Nov. 3) on the road against Petrolia, followed by a Friday, Nov. 4, home game vs. the Lucan Irish.
In other Huron County Jr. C action, the Goderich Flyers face the Mitchell Hawks Saturday (Oct. 29) at the Mitchell Arena.
Wingham Ironmen face the Kincardine Bulldogs Saturday (Oct. 29) at 4:30 p.m. on the road at the Davidson Centre.
This Sunday, Oct. 30, the Flyers host the Ironmen in a 2:30 p.m. game at the Maitland Recreation Centre.
Jackson McLlwain scores first OHL goal
On a breakaway deep in the Niagara Ice Dogs zone Oct. 23, Windsor Spitfires rookie forward Jackson McLlwain (Exeter, Ont.) looked to his left.
Half a second later, he shifted and wired a wrist shot past Ice Dogs goalie Owen Flores.
It was the first goal of McLlwain’s young OHL career, and the eventual game-winner.
Afterward, he grinned from ear to ear and held up the puck for a team photographer — who snapped at least one for posterity and one for Instagram.
It’ll have a permanent place in the family collection.
Safe to say uncle Dave, a former NHL veteran from Seaforth, was somewhere smiling too — along with mom Kathy dad Mark, who still live in Canada’s rural white squirrel capital.
South Huron Panthers second in Huron-Perth baseball
In the hyper-competitive Huron Perth high school baseball league, South Huron punched above its weight.
But in the Huron-Perth final Friday in Mitchell, the two-time defending league champion Blue Devils — also the defending WOSSAA title holder — punched better.
South Huron fell 6-1 to Mitchell in the Huron-Perth final, per the Mitchell Advocate.1
They finished third in regular-season standings with a 3-2-2 record, behind first-place Mitchell (who went undefeated at 6-0-1) and Central Huron (4-2-1).
South Huron defeated Central Huron in extra innings in their playoff semi-final.
Thanks, Andy!
Keep up the great work, Ben!