The Exeter Hawks sit one win away from a sweep and a championship after beating Dorchester 9-2 in game 3 of the SOJHL finals. Special teams were the key with Exeter showing why they have the league's top powerplay. They would score 6 times with the man advantage.
It didn't take long for the Hawks to get the break they needed. Dorchester took an early penalty which led to the game's opening goal by Tyler Kettler. Kettler was on his way to a hot night, adding 5 assists to his goal for a 6 point evening.
Exeter had much more to offer on the man advantage. On only their 3rd chance Trevor Thornton would put away their second power-play goal of the night. Tyler Coleman and Chase Thornton would each add two goals with the extra man to total 6 powerplay goals on the evening. The first 5 came off of only 7 chances.
Adding in the even strength goals were Liam Melady, Chris Pfaff and Tyler McNaughton.
With a conversion rate of an eye opening 37% all the powerplay goals were not a surprise to coach Dale Timmermans.
"(We) have five guys with junior b experience." He said when describing his top unit. "They're really patient and know where to find holes and put the puck."
As for the scoreline, Timmermans says he is not a fan of running the score up on opponents. However, when battling for the league championship, he says it is important for his squad to keep their foot on the pedal.
"If you let off a bit and give them a breath they will come back twice as hard."
Possibly the key to a great deal of the team's success belongs to forward Chase Thornton. The league's leading scorer in regular season and playoffs carries a heavy load but says it never feels that way.
"It's all been a team game this series rolling four lines and everyone is contributing." Thornton said. Adding 2 assists to his powerplay goals, the former Strathroy Rocket has 31 points from 11 games in this post season.
Game 4 will go Thursday night in Dorchester. a win gives the Hawks a 4-0 sweep of the series and the SOJHL championship.
