The Athabasca Bantam ‘A’ Hawks played three games at the provincial championships in Three Hills last weekend, winning one of them and losing two to finish outside of the playoff round.
The Hawks were the first team in action on the weekend with a game bright and early on Friday morning against the Beaverlodge Blades. In a tight game between two evenly matched teams, the Hawks fell short by a score of 1-0 despite outshooting the Blades 25-23.
They were back in action on Saturday afternoon against the Coronation Royals. The local team fell behind early in the game as Coronation took a 2-0 lead into the second period.
The Royals scored again early in the second to make it 3-0 before Brandon Borys struck for Athabasca with assists from Josh Payuk and Laurisa Tangedal. Less than three minutes later, the Hawks drew within one when Mitchell Summers scored with an assist from Derek Greene.
The puck had just dropped on the third period when Sean Greene scored to tie the game for the Hawks, and it looked like the momentum had shifted fully in their favour. But seven minutes into the third Coronation scored again, and added one more before the game was over to secure a 5-3 win.
With two losses under their belt, the Hawks were eliminated from further contention and entered their final game on Saturday, against the Kneehill Chiefs, with the knowledge that it would be their last of the season. That was all the motivation they needed as they wrapped things up with a 6-2 win. Single markers came from Mitchell Summers, Josh Payuk, Tor Tangedal and Iver Steffes, with Brandon Borys potting two.
Steffes was named player of the game for the Hawks.
Mitchell Lovelace kept the Hawks in every game with solid goaltending.
“The games were competitive. We just fell a little short putting the puck in the net,” said head coach Jeff Summers. “Everyone gave it their all. All the kids had fun. (Provincials) is always a good experience.”
The local players were a little disappointed that they didn’t make it to the playoff round, according to their coach, especially since the games they lost were very close. But they bounced back with a great effort in their final game and ended the weekend, and season, on a high note.
“It was a successful season. The kids learned a lot and had fun.”
