The Walkerton Hawks take a 1-0 series lead back to Alliston after a 2-1 victory over the Hornets. Game 1 was the beginning of the 7th meeting in 8 years between the sides with the Hawks looking for their first series win.
Walkerton continued their high tempo play that has caused issues for every team they have played so far this post season. The Hornets struggled to execute their game plan despite some good opportunities early on.
It would be the Hawks drawing first blood with Chris Gillman putting away the puck on the goal line after a few whacks. The hosts would take the lead into the intermission.
Both sides would spend some time in the box in the second, but neither power play found a way through. Walkerton continued to pressure and hit the Hornets, breaking up passes and plays all over the ice. It would go scoreless in the second giving the Hawks the lead into the third.
In the third Alliston found their break and made no mistake. Forward Joe Cochrane found some room for himself and put a hard shot over the shoulder of the Hawk's Erik Angeli.
Unfortunately for the visitors, there would soon be an answer to their goal. A Walkerton power play worked the puck over to Ryan Hamelin and the team's gritty centre ripped a hard wrist shot to bury the eventual game winner.
Making 27 saves in the win was Walkerton's Angeli. The star of the Western Junior C championship continued to shine and kept the low scoring game in his team's favour. Alliston's Tyler Brindle made 20 saves but despite the low count was also sharp when tested.
Game 2 goes Friday night in Alliston at 8:00. You can listen live on CKNX, CKNX.ca and the Blackburn Radio App.
