The Walkerton Hawks celebrate winning the Western Junior C title. (Photo by Ryan Brandt)The Walkerton Hawks celebrate winning the Western Junior C title. (Photo by Ryan Brandt)
Midwestern

Walkerton Hawks 2015 Western Junior C Champions

When the Western Junior C final came to a Game 7, it had game of the season material all over it. The Walkerton Hawks and Wingham Ironmen delivered in a 4-3 overtime victory for the Hawks that saw them become the 2015 league champions.

In front of a sold out crowd in Wingham, the league's two top teams traded chances and goals throughout the evening. The end to end affair would go the distance with Jay Thomson putting away the game winner.

To get to the golden goal, three back and forth periods would come first. In the opening frame Walkerton came away with a 1-0 lead when Lauchlin Elder put a shot top corner past Ben Nelson. Wingham did carry most of the possession but the Hawks collapsing defence kept the shots to the outside, making it easy for goalie Erik Angeli early on.

Wingham came out firing to open the second. The Ironmen built off their chances in the first to find the net midway through the frame. Justin Jacklin put forth yet another clutch goal to even things up. Things quickly got interesting with Brett Brophy putting the hosts ahead for the first time. It would turn out to be a short lived lead as Brooks Nelthorpe evened things at 2-2 only seconds later.

A series long goaltender battle continued with both Ben Nelson and Erik Angeli trading some big saves. The competitors kept things even to start the third period.

It would be Walkerton that would break the deadlock, Chris Gillman got credit for the go ahead goal early on. As Wingham pushed for the equalizer Walkerton continued to make things tough on their rivals. With  less than ten minutes to go, the Ironmen caught a second wind and got some pressure deep in the Hawks zone. Greg Hansford would put away the tying goal to send the final game of the series into overtime.

The 1,000 people in attendance stayed on the edge of their seats with both teams coming close to finding a winner early on. Only a pair of huge saves by Angeli and the quick legs of Ben Nelson kept the score even as the pressure continued to mount.

Thomson would find a way to slip the game winning shot past Nelson, vaulting Walkerton into a frenzy and crowning them Western Junior C Champions. The hero and captain was thrilled to be on the winning end after facing a similar fate to the Ironmen last season.

"After going down in Wingham last season, it feels amazing to come back into this rink and win," he said after the game.

While Thomson was the hero, the star of the night was Angeli. Making 41 saves, including 14 in overtime, that winning goal came as a relief.

"You could definitely feel it (the pressure) out there," said Angeli, who was the subject of much praise from around the Hawks lineup. That included head coach Brad Tiley

"He responded well from a tough night last night," he said. "He was hard on himself but we knew he was going to be Dynamite tonight."

The win sends the Hawks to the quarterfinal of the Clarence Schmalz Cup and a meeting with the Alliston Hornets.

A post game interview with Coach Brad Tiley can be found below:

[audio mp3="http://blackburnnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Brad-Tiley.mp3"][/audio]

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