|
History of the A's |
||
|
The Golden Hawks of the E.P.L.A. |
||
|
GOLDEN
HAWKS WIN 8-7 IN SECOND OVERTIME By
Jim Blundell The
St. Catharines Standard MONDAY
AUGUST 25, 1969 The
St. Catharines Golden Hawks played 75 minutes and 31 seconds of solid
lacrosse last night to eke out an 8-7 overtime victory against the league
champion Peterborough Lakers in the opening game of the playoffs. The
Hawks trailed until after the midway mark in the third period when
consecutive goals by Gary Moore, Gord Keates, Doug Favell and Rick Dudley
put them in a commanding position. Jim
Gooley opened the games scoring after only 29 seconds of play. There was
no further scoring until 13:30 when Bob Brown put the Lakers ahead 2-0. A
third Peterborough goal was scored by Roy Wood with only eight seconds of
play remaining in the opening frame, and Peterborough took a 3-0 lead into
the second period. Team
captain, Cy Coombes assisted on all three Peterborough counters in the
period. Rick
Dudley, up with the Hawks for the playoffs now that his Mississauga Junior
A team has been eliminated, started the Golden Hawk scoring early in the
second period when he took a long pass from the goaltender Bob McCready
and beat Laker netminder Pat Baker at 2:44. Larry
Ferguson replied for Peterborough at 10:01 to restore the team’s three
goal bulge. Again
Rick Dudley put the ball behind Baker, but referee Bob Golby ruled Dudley
was in the crease and the goal was disallowed. Disaster
seemed to strike at the 14-minute mark. Doug Favell was solidly checked
and went down. His bad right knee was wrenched and he writhed in pain
before being helped off the floor and to the dressing room. Seconds
later Duffy McCarthy, also up with the Hawks from the Mississuaga juniors,
was charged by Harris Hunter. He too was helped off the floor. In
the last minute of play in the period, the two teams exchanged goals. Don
Riding scored for St. Catharines on a play from Neil Stevens and Ken
Lotton at 19:06. Bob Brown came back for Peterborough with an assist from
John Davis at 19:41 and the period ended with Peterborough still holding a
three-goal edge at 5-2. The
third period belonged to the Hawks. Gary Moore scored a power play goal at
10:45 on a play from Ron Roy and team captain Terry Davis, while Steve
White of the Lakers sat out a two-minute penalty for delaying the game. Gord
Keates took a long pass from McCready and fired it behind Baker at 11:20
to cut the lead to one goal. Doug
Favell, back from his second period leg injury, took a relay from John
Hoculik and McCready at 14:32 and dropped the ball over Baker’s shoulder
and into the net. Dudley
came through with his second goal of the game at 15:15 on a play from
Davis and Jim Richardson, and the Hawks had the lead for the first time in
the game. With
less than five minutes remaining in play, the Hawks concentrated on ball
control, and almost succeeded. After
fending off a series of Peterborough rushes, the Hawks defenders tired,
and Coombes broke through to score while his goal tender sat on the bench
in favour of an extra attacker. With
the score tied at 6-6, the game went into a 10-minute overtime period. Hustling
Jim Richardson put the Hawks in early command when he broke free, took a
pass from Dudley at mid-court and ran in alone to beat Baker after only 33
seconds of play in the overtime period. Both
McCready and Baker appeared unbeatable for the next eight minutes as each
of them drove back volley of shots. It
was Coombes, the stocky Peterborough captain, who has scored more than 100
goals this season, who put the Hawks back in jeopardy. The
Lakers were shorthanded with Roy Wood serving a two-minute slashing
penalty when Coombes shook loose from his check, took a pass from Davis,
and beat McCready after fighting his way between two Golden Hawk rear
guards. The
ten-minute period ended 7-7 and sudden death began after a five-minute
rest. Throughout
more than five and one-half minutes of sudden play, checking was tight and
neither team had a good scoring opportunity. Then
Favell broke loose, caught a bullet-like pass from Dudley at the edge of
the free throw circle, cut behind a Peterborough checker, pulled Baker to
the edge of the crease with a quick fake, and dropped the ball over his
shoulder into the net. Bedlam
reigned in Garden City Arena as spectators applauded the brilliant Golden
Hawk comeback against the team reputed to be the class of the league. Favell
and Dudley were top men for the St. Catharines squad with two goals each.
Singles were counted by Moore, Keates, Richardson and Riding. Coombes
and Brown each scored a pair for the Lakers while Gooley, Wood and
Ferguson each added one. An
indication of the tight play and close checking in the game is the fact
that both Terry Davis, the Hawks high scoring captain, and his brother
John, who won the league scoring championship in a Peterborough sweater,
were held scoreless. The best the Davis brothers could do for points was
two assists each. With
the victory, St. Catharines moved into a first place tie with the
Laker’s in the three-team round-robin semi-finals. Peterborough won the
opening game Friday night against Toronto in a 12-11 overtime battle. The
Hawks travel to Peterborough for their second game Tuesday night and play
here against Toronto Friday at 8 pm. |