The Walkerton Hawks snapped the Mount Forest Patriots five game win streak with a 4-2 win in Game 2 of their PJHL Pollock Division final. The series is now tied at a game a piece.
The Patriots trailed 4-1 with just over three minutes left to play in the third period. Mount Forest pulled their goalie and the Patriot's Ryan Maksymyk scored shortly after to make the score 4-2, but Mount Forest could not get any closer.
Blair Jenkins goal at 2:44 of the second period would stand as the game winner.
Hawks Forward Jordan Caskenette says his squad faced a Mount Forest team that didn't seem as prepared as they were in the first game of the series....
"They didn't execute as well as they did in Game 1," Caskenette says, "we sure bared down and we did a couple system tweaks...we definitely put in some work but it basically came down to who came to play."
Patriots coach Trent McClement was satisfied with the split through the first two games of the series.
"I think Walkerton did compete hard tonight," McClement says, "I think they were doing what they wanted to do and we were kinda letting them do it. We have young team and I think at the end of the day we are going to learn from this and come out with a better effort on Friday."
Reid Simmons opened the scoring for Walkerton at 9:22 of the first period. Connor Patton put the Hawks up 2-1 just past the midway point.
Spencer Holt put the Patriots on the board just 35 seconds into the second period and Jenkins answered just over two minutes later.
Spencer Elder added insurance for the Hawks with a power play goal at 7:47 of the third period.
Ryan Winter earned the win with a 30 save performance. Mathieu Oullette stopped 40 shots for the Patriots.
Game 3 is Friday night in Walkerton at 8:20.
**With files from Kate Stockmann and John Chippa