Hawks battle to 5-3 win

DUBLIN, OH - The midpoint of the Arrowhawks season was on the line early in Friday's matchup with the talented Check Republic team. The Hawks fell behind early 2-0 only 4 minutes into the opening frame. The Check Republic forwards were buzzing like angry bees, firing shot after shot. Mac Lawless and Joe Factor were minus two before they even broke a sweat. Lines were a mess. Oleg Chetverikov, filling in for normal second line center Mark Monahan forgot to register with the official scorer. Third line right wing, Rick Titus forgot his stick by the locker room.

"We were a mess early," said the tallest defenseman on the team, Mac Lawless. "We were sleeping on the job."

Luckily for the Hawks, they found their groove.

Blog staff wasn't able to get a look at the official scoresheet so we have no idea when the goals were scored but eventually the game was tied 2-2 behind great goals from Mac Lawless and Kevin Griffith. Both players displayed solid skill in the offensive zone, besting the Check Republic netminder. Lawless had a gorgeous goal from the point, firing a stellar wrister high over the goalies glove.

"I thought I was going to get drilled in the head," said Griffith after the game. "Luckily, Mac knew what he was doing and hit the net, otherwise I would've been tagged." he said happily rubbing his chin.

Goaltender Jason Jensen did his thing, stopping key shots during the remaining play. He controlled the rebounds and kept the game close until the Hawks could find their stride.

"We stayed with it, despite missing some key offensive players," said 2nd line right wing Jason Torsok. "In all, everyone did their job and we were able to get the job done."

Bryan Griffith was excellent with the puck in both zones. Nate Mensel was moved back to defense for the game, a terrific pre-game move by Tom Morgan who set the lines. Barry Snow moved up to first line wing and fired some good shots in the game.

Bryan scored to make the game 3-2 late in the second period (we think), collecting a rebound in the low slot in traffic.

Jason Torsok put the nail in the coffin late in the third after Kevin Griffith made the game 4-3 with a terrific unassisted effort. The score was 5-3 with 2 minutes to play. Torsok's goal was a great positional effort, when Check Republic tried to clear the zone down low.

The win gives the Hawks an even 3-3 record heading into the final 6 games of the session.