The Varney Agency junior Black Hawk Bantams traveled to St. Leonard, N.B. for a game on Feb. 8.
St. Leonard got on the board first, just a minute and a half into the game. The junior Black Hawks responded nicely with two goals from Nick Delucca, assists going to Garrett Perkins and Zach Fitzpatrick, but St. Leonard answered back with a goal to tie the score at two after one period.
St. Leonard took the lead with an early second-period goal. A.J. Henderson buried the puck with 27 seconds left in the period to tie the game at 3, but once again St. Leonard scored a late goal with just 12 seconds left to regain the lead 4-3.
In the third, Delucca earned the hat trick, collecting his third goal of the game to tie the score at four. St. Leonard answered with two goals to take a two-goal lead at 6-4. The visitors cut the score to 6-5 with a goal from Drew Marino, with Fitzpatrick earning the assist.
Coach Weber was pleased with the way his team fought hard to stay within reach, but ultimately the team ran out of gas at the end.
On Saturday, Feb. 14, the junior Black Hawks Bantams hosted Presque Isle. These two teams played a hard fought game in Presque Isle last month ending in a 3-3 tie. Coach Weber knew this would be a battle. Presque Isle netted the only goal in the first and took a 1-0 lead into the second period. The junior Black Hawks Bantams had numerous scoring opportunities, but couldn’t capitalize.
The second period found Presque Isle scoring three goals to take a 4-0 lead. Once again, the home team had many quality scoring chances, but Presque Isle’s goalie turned away shot after shot. Between the second and third periods, coach Weber said the team stayed positive.
“I knew we weren’t done and were still in the game, and the players felt the same,” he said. “I had a feeling that once we got one by their goalie, that momentum would build and we would come back.”
The home team took a penalty a minute and a half into the period, but that did not deter them. Fitzpatrick scored a shorthanded breakaway goal to open the flood gates. Delucca took control and scored the next three goals as the junior Black Hawks Bantams stormed back to tie the game at four. Assisting on Delucca’s goals were Fitzpatrick and Perkins. Henderson netted the game-winning goal with Delucca getting the assist and Jason Collett scored an insurance goal as the team completed their comeback to earn a 6-4 victory.
The junior Black Hawks take on Woodstock this Saturday, Feb. 21 at noon at the Millar Civic Center.
