EXETER – The Exeter Hawks clinched third place in their division on the weekend with wins over the North Middlesex Stars and Lambeth Lancers.
Exeter beat North Middlesex 4-3 in a shootout Friday night at the South Huron Recreation Centre (SHRC) and overcame Lambeth 5-4 on the road Sunday evening.
The Friday win was likely the Hawks’ biggest of the year, according to coach Jeff MacLean. North Middlesex is a rival, had beaten the Hawks three times already this year, and is the defending league champion, he said.
“It was a huge win for our team.”
The Hawks led 2-0 after the first period, thanks to goals from Justin Reid and Tim Burtch.
North Middlesex roared back in the second period, scoring three unanswered goals to take the lead going into the final frame.
Reid tied the game with 4:29 remaining in the third period, sending the game to an overtime period that ended scoreless.
Justin Anstett and Reid scored Hawks goals in the shootout, while North Middlesex scored only once, giving Exeter the win.
“Overall I think we played a really good game,” MacLean said. “We worked hard, we were physical, which was the key to our success. Collectively, 20 guys found a way to win and never gave up and kept battling.”
Exeter goalie Gregg Dodds had 32 saves in the victory and played the way the Hawks envisioned he could, according to MacLean.
“He’s a great goaltender, and ... that’s what he’s capable of,” MacLean said.
Sunday against Lambeth the Hawks jumped out to another 2-0 first period lead, thanks to goals from Colin Thompson and Chad Hackett.
Lambeth tied the game in the second period and the teams traded goals multiple times in the third period.
Reid scored 8:08 into the frame, then Lambeth’s Kevin Pennington scored. Anstett added a goal only to see Lambeth’s Nick West even the score again about 90 seconds later.
Exeter’s Matt Dawdy scored a go-ahead goal with 3:55 remaining and the Hawks were able to hold off Lambeth the rest of the way.
Dodds had 23 saves in the win.
“The two wins over the weekend were encouraging, because it seemed like we would beat everybody else in the other two divisions, but in our own division we struggled a little bit,” MacLean said.
“With two wins this weekend, we’ve kind of righted the ship a little bit.”
The Hawks have four difficult games to close the regular season, including a tilt against the Delhi Travellers this Friday and a Saturday tilt against the Mt. Brydges Bulldogs.
Delhi has the league’s second-best record this season while Mt. Brydges has the third-best. Exeter sits four points behind Thamesford with the league’s fifth-best record.
MacLean said his team hopefully has more confidence going into those games, given their recent success.
“That’s part of the reason management scheduled it this way, with harder games at the end (of the schedule),” he said. “We were going to be forced to play some of our best hockey in our last six games of the season, so hopefully we’re in the best position possible for the playoffs.
“This weekend that has just passed, I’m sure has given the guys more confidence, and I’m sure they believe a little bit more now that we can beat anybody.”
Friday’s game against Delhi is scheduled for an 8:30 p.m. start at the SHRC.