LUCAN – Twenty-nine points separated the first-place Exeter Hawks and last-place Lucan Irish in conference standings before they battled in a 3-2 Hawks win Saturday night.

The Hawks were without leading scorers Alex Garon and Trevor Thornton, and the Irish were playing with a full lineup for the first time in weeks, which may explain why Exeter needed overtime to pick up its eighth win in 10 games.

But Hawks coach Steve Bedard sees an improved team in Lucan, and he's wary of the Irish and other conference rivals as the regular season enters its final 25 days.

"All these teams are getting stronger, and they're starting to realize that you've got to play some kind of system to beat teams," Bedard said in an interview Monday.

"They've got nothing to lose but to work on their systems and try and compete better. It's up to the teams above that are fighting for first place to be able to play more than one system and regroup and be able to change systems on the fly."

The Hawks and Irish traded powerplay goals in the first period Saturday – Exeter defenceman Mitch Wild scored early, and Irish player Jesse DeGroot scored late in the frame.

Lucan pulled ahead with a goal from Jordan May in the second period but Hawks forward Josh Brideau tied the game with 2:09 left in the third.

Exeter's Kalvin Thornton buried the winning goal 1:12 into overtime.

Hawks goaltender Aaron Bedard made 37 saves in the win, while Irish goalie Devin Golets had 29 saves.

Despite the loss, Irish head coach Dan Mudge was happy with his team's play.
"We're starting to show what we're made of, and what kind of talent we have," he said.

"We're a long ways away from where Exeter is," Mudge added later. "They have confidence in themselves.

"It was (the) type of game where I felt we played real well for 55 minutes but we got a little jitterish in the last five minutes and I think that was just because we haven't won a lot of games.

"You've got to learn to win, and Exeter has that confidence, and they're experienced in winning."  

Along with Garon and Trevor Thornton, the Hawks played without forwards Wes McGovern and Kyle Craner and defenceman Braden Connolly.

The Irish were back at full strength after losing a few key players over the Christmas break.

"We were missing quite a few guys (Saturday), but ... to be a good team, everybody has to do their job, and I thought the boys did a good job this weekend once they regrouped" Bedard said.

"As far as these bottom teams (in the division) ... they've got nothing lose by going and working their butts off, and if they out-work you they're going to win.

"That's something we've got to keep on doing, is keep on bringing a stronger effort every game, which I've been saying all year ... you can coach a lot of things, but you can't coach heart. That's one thing the kids have to bring – their heart, to play hockey."

Hawks (4) vs. North Middlesex (3)

The Hawks entered Saturday's game with Lucan after a 4-3 victory over the North Middlesex Stars in Exeter Friday night.

Exeter built a 3-0 lead over the fifth-place Stars thanks to a first-period goal from Josh Brideau and second-period markers from Matt McLellan and Kalvin Thornton.
North Middlesex players Zak MacNaught and Mike Slegers scored later in the second, making it 3-2 Hawks.

MacNaught tied the game on a powerplay 3:53 into the third period, but McLellan scored at 11:27 to put the Hawks ahead for good.

Exeter goaltender Jake Partridge had 28 saves in the win, while Stars goalie Justin Leitch had 47 saves.

"I thought we were outplaying them quite well, and then we decided to start playing like the game was won," said Steve Bedard.

"We didn't continue playing the game that we started with – kind of lost focus on our game plan to pressure in the (offensive) zone and neutral zone ... We just started thinking we could pressure all the time – you know, taking chances – and we started giving up a lot of odd-man rushes and the score changed to a 3-3 in a hurry.

"I think we had a soft work ethic and lazy play in the neutral zone, and that's something teams are going to take advantage of."

Good stretch for Hawks

The Hawks' last 10 games included eight wins over the bottom three teams in the SOJHL's Yeck Conference, and Bedard said he was happy with that stretch.

"We knew what we had to do as a team, and some games we probably felt we should have won by bigger scores, but sometimes a win's a win, and we just hope the kids learn from every win they get," he said.

"Now is the time to continue getting a streak going again, and we have to make our own destiny if we want to finish (in) first place.

"We have to do that on our own. We have to win games. We can't expect teams like North Middlesex, Lucan or Port Stanley to help us by beating the top teams."

Next up

The Irish (7-18-2) enter a difficult stretch this week, hosting the third-place Lambeth Lancers tonight (Wednesday) before weekend road games against second-place Thamesford and fourth-place Mt. Brydges.

"We want to see some consistency in our play, Mudge said. "We don't want to play one good game and two or three bad games.

"So we're looking ... in this next nine-game stretch to finish the season, to get some consistency and figure out right where we are, and prepare ourselves for the playoffs."

Tonight's Irish home game is set for a 7:45 p.m. start at the Lucan Community Memorial Centre.

The Hawks (22-4-3) host Mt. Brydges Friday night and Thamesford Sunday night at the South Huron Recreation Centre.

Friday's game is scheduled for 8 p.m., while Sunday's game is set for a 7:30 p.m. start.