COLUMBUS, OH - The Arrowhawks opened the summer season with a new lineup but the result was the same, a 5-2 victory of the talented CS Bank. The Hawks were sporting a new goaltender, 2 new forwards and the return of D-man Nick Elswick. The new faces all made their presence felt but it was the core of the team that made the difference.
Sniper Kevin Griffith opened the scoring with 8:25 to go in the 1st on a tip in off of a Tom Morgan shot from the point to make it 1-0...more on Morgan's stint on D later. CS Bank roared back with 2 goals in .06 seconds on consecutive 2 on 1 breaks with William Cooper and Tood Aiello connecting to take a 2-1 lead with 3:00 to go in the 1st.
The Hawks had a few late arrivals and that forced LW Tom Morgan to play D for a chunk of the 1st. After the Griffith goal earlier in the period Morgan could be overheard on the bench saying "1 shift, 1 point! D isn't so hard!" well, he should have quit while he was ahead...now fast forward. "He came up to me and asked if he could have another run", All Star Defencemen Nick Lanctot said of Morgan as he spoke to the media after the game, "so I said, why not?" Well Morgan found himself on the business end of back to back odd man rushes with brutal results. Thank goodness Oleg Chetverikov wasn't paying attention to the debacle on the ice as he rifled a shot past goalie Brian Cooper on a feed from Griffith to tie the game at the end of the 1st.
The Hawks regrouped between periods and the rest of their lineup finally made it to the rink, including Bryan Wharton who was making his much anticipated debut with the Hawks. Wharton made his presence felt early as he burst through center ice with the puck and found Morgan trailing as he entered the zone. Bryan made a beautiful pass and Morgan went top shelf to make it 4-2 with 8:23 to go in the 2nd. Griffith capped off the scoring on a laser pass from Lanctot and that was all she wrote. Bret MacDonald also made his Hawks debut and didn't disappoint. The 19 year old from Utah should good puck skills and had several scoring chances. GM Rick Titus was reportedly giddy from his perch in the press box as he watched his new acquisition..."the kid can play!" he told the media after the game "let's see what he can do next week" he concluded. Jamie Santho was stellar in his Hawks debut and made several big save with his quick glove hand, "you're not going to beat him there" said regular netminder Jason Jensen who is playing wing this summer. "If it wasn't for Morgan's putrid D he would have blanked them!" he added.
The Hawks play defended league champs The (Freakin')Eskimos next week, we'll see if they can bring the same effort.
EDITOR NOTE: I added the Freakin' to the Mo's, since that's how we all know them. The Freakin' Mos.
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