Hawks secure first place and top seed

LEWIS CENTER, OH - The Friday night CAHL league gave fans a doozie of a game tonight. The two heavyweights of the division (hold the fat jokes) squared off to decide first place. In one corner were the exceptionally good looking Arrowhawks (8-1-1), with their six pack abs, flowing locks and dazzling intellect. In the other corner was Your Ad Here (8-1-1), a highly skilled collection of decent enough hockey players who skate fast, handle the puck well and force opponents into poor positioning because they're damn good.

Let me set the stage. 

The Here's throttled the Hawks in last session championship game. Heading into tonight's game the offensive powerhouse Here's led the league in goal scoring (56) and goal differential (28). Three of the five top point producers in the league play for the Heres. [Editor note... if the team name is Your Ad Here and you have to abbreviate, what would be best? If there's no ad, theres no revenue and your shop closes. The ads. I think that's best.] 

The Ads have but one weak skater on their team. Derek Choops isn't him. Choops leads the league in goal scoring. He's what some call an 'at will' player. He has 26 goals on the season and 15 assists and represents 24% of the point total for his club. 

But he was absent tonight. And that may have made the difference. 

The Ads jumped out to an early 1-0 lead and looked to be taking it to the Arrowhawks through the first five shifts. 

"They had great jump," said captain Mark Monahan after the game. "We didn't match their intensity early on but we found our groove."

Regular Hawk netminder Jamie 'Shamus' Santho wasn't available for the game because he was studying for the BAR exam. A mystery goalie named Patrick was called up from the Arrowhawks minor league affiliate and was quickly forced to stand on his head [figuratively]. 

"I don't know who he was but he had these really old pads and looked somewhat odd," said Arrowhawk winger Rob Walls. "I wasn't sure what to expect. Especially in warmups when we didn't have any pucks and had to just air guitar it with fake slappers and all. I had a feeling he might have a ultra-quick glove because he snared a one-timer from the slot in warmups. I just shook my head," he added. 

Turns out Patrick the goalie was good. Darn good.

"He made three stellar stops early on that really gave us a spark," said Hawk winger Tom Morgan, who played a majestically positioned defense tonight. "He had an amazing glove save that really frustrated their club." 

Walls must have been charged because he scored the equalizer 40 seconds later to tie the game at 1-1. 

The Hawks scored again in the first to take a 2-1 lead that held through two periods. The game was a nail biter with end-to-end action. The Ad's Chad Kostka, Michael Ellis and David Mosholder were determined to make a difference. They were a handful for the Hawks defenseman who fortunately, were up for the task. 

"Jason DeJong, Ted Bulwinkle and Adam DePerro have been so stout for us, we knew that if we back checked and gave them support, they'd shut them down," said Hawk winger Ryan Turray after the game. "I'd give you more quote material but I'm really hungry and saw a vendor selling coney dogs for a dollar so I'm out of here," he quipped as he ran off. 

Kostka pulled the Ads within a goal just inside two minutes in the third period. But 3-2 was as close as the Ads got in the game. Adam DePerro scored a dandy even strength goal with a minute left in the game to secure the win. 

The game ended 4-2, with Ryan Soucek notching the game winner via a brilliant goal off the back of the goalie who had strayed from the crease just enough for an angle. We'd have photos of all tonight's action but we had to fire our photographer because he moved to California to make wine. Bastard. 

The win moves the Hawks into first place and guarantees a #1 seed for the playoffs. The three stars were: 3rd star, Patrick the Mystery goalie; 2nd star, Ryan Soucek; 1st star, Rob Walls.

For a full game report, click here.