At least one Barrhead team emerged from the St. Patrick’s Day weekend as champions after the Atom ‘A’ Hawks defeated the Redwater Rush 4-1 in front of a cheering crowd at the Agrena Sunday afternoon.
“It feels good,” said coach David Schmidt. “The kids deserve it.”
Sunday’s game was the second game of the two-game, total-goals series. The two teams had played to a 3-3 tie in Redwater on March 15.
The championship caps an unbeaten season for the Hawks, who went 16-0-2 in the regular season, and 5-0-1 in the playoffs.
“We had no losses during league play, and some ties,” Schmidt said after the game. “We didn’t want this one to be the one we lost.”
He said he felt the game went well for the Hawks.
“We were pretty much in full control the whole game,” he said. “I never felt like we were in trouble.”
He praised Redwater for giving the Hawks a run for their money, adding that the games between the two teams this season had been tight. In their first meeting they tied 6-6, and the Hawks won the second 5-4.
In the game, the Hawks opened the scoring with Robert Kincaid’s goal from Tate Schmidt at 4:30 of the first period. However, the game would break for the first intermission tied 1-1 after the Rush scored with just over two minutes to play.
The second saw the Hawks regain the lead, when Brendan Bujold scored what turned out to be the winning goal at 11:20.
In the third period, the Hawks kept the Rush off balance and padded their lead. At the 6:24 mark, Tate Schmidt scored on an assist from Brayden Bain to give the Hawks a 3-1 lead. When Bain scored at 13:20 to give the Hawks a 4-1 lead, it was clear the Hawks would come out on top.
Up next for the Hawks is a trip to Marwayne this weekend to compete in the Atom ‘C’ provincial tournament.
