Hawks athleticism shines in playoff win

CAHL MVP goaltender Jason Jensen flies high in the air to avoid out-of-control defenseman Mac Lawless, aggressively back-checking on the play.


Nobody knew for sure what fruit the summer roster would bear. If tonight's opening round playoff game was any indication, this book is not yet written.

The Arrowhawks quite possibly played their best game of the session, soundly defeating the talented Discover team, 5-2 Friday night. All three forward lines and 5 defenseman brought their 'A' game to the Dublin rink.

"We played well tonight," said epic goal-scorer Tom Morgan after the contest. "I think everyone played well." Morgan added matter-of-factly.

Easy for Tom to say. He's the beneficiary of playing with the same 2 wingers for the last two years. The chemistry was evident. The line contributed 7 points on the night and was +7 in the game, despite many penalties. #7 Morgan did his usual thing, finishing everthing in sight and notching his second playoff hat-trick. The combined goal total? You guessed it, 7.

"That's a lot of sevens," said Mike Gauthier as he counted on his fingers.

"I'm lucky to play with the best 2-way center in the game and the best damn power forward to wear an Arrowhawk jersey," Morgan said.

"Tommy was on fire tonight," said Mark Monahan, who assisted on two on Morgan's goals. "Jay played well, filling space in front of the net, making it easier on all of us." said Monahan.

It's true the first line did it's part, but the storyline of this game had as much to do with the back 5 as it did the front 9.

"Jensen was in playoff form," said an exhausted Mac Lawless. "He was athletic moving from post to post, burying every rebound and frustrating Discover's goal scorers."

Even Discover's best player, Brian AKA Tool, agreed Jensen was good. "I remember beating Jensen high gloveside before and thought I'd be able to do it again tonight," he said after the game. "But he was on his game tonight. Now they have to win it all."

Jensen survived a scare in the third period when defenseman Mac Lawless drove hard to the net to break up a scoring chance. Jensen dove high in the air to avoid a collision and was momentarily dazed, crashing to the ice and causing a brief stoppage of play.

"When I landed I lost my breath momentarily. I wasn't sure where I was so I went to my happy place," said Jensen.

"We were all worried on the bench," admitted Monahan. "But like every time, Jensen answered the bell," he added.

Hannah Fields continued her aggressive physical play and added a key assist to ice the game, making a nifty pass to Andrew for the empty netter to ice the game.

"John Kenyon made the play," said Fields. "He plays with a long stick and got good wood on a clearing attempt in the offensive zone. We just finished for him. It was the least we could do." she said.

Jason Torsok giggled like a school girl in the background, mumbling to himself "she said wood..."

Terry Walker, Mike Gauthier and Freakin' Basso were stellar defensively.

Mac Lawless had a goal tonight, assisted from the highly skilled Minnesota kid, Nick Lanctot. He and Nate Mensel dangled with the puck every shift, controlling play in both zones.

This chapter is written, but the book isn't done. The Hawks will play #1 seed CS Bank next Friday for a chance in the championship game.

"We're hitting our stride," said Jason Torsok. "Our timing is good, but we have two games left before we'll know whether it's good enough."

Stay tuned Hawk fans.