Junior hockey update

Dunnville Mudcats

Things were not looking good for Dunnville at first against the Niagara RiverHawks on January 30, 2020 as the opposing team scored at the end of the first and the start of the second to take a 2-0 lead. Dunnville found their stride six minutes later however as Jack MacDonald got them on the board and Noah Bourdon tied the game 42 seconds later. Alex McAteer put the Mudcats ahead later that period and things started to get heated shortly after as players on both sides were given misconducts for inciting an opponent. Jakob Murdoch gave Dunnville a comfortable two-goal lead in the third and the teams traded inciting misconducts again a couple minutes later. Things did not cool down and shortly after two RiverHawks were given minor penalties for unsportsmanlike conduct and one of them received a misconduct for abuse of officials. In total the two teams had 76 minutes of penalties on 19 infractions. Matt Dolan added the final nail in the coffin on the empty net. While Niagara managed one more with 12 seconds remaining, it was too late and they fell 5-3. Austin Davison made 39 saves as the Dunnville tender.

The Dunnville Mudcats and Hagersville Hawks had a hard-fought battle in their last Battle of Haldimand in the regular season on January 31. Hawk Sandy Porter opened the scoring halfway through the first on the only powerplay of that period. Dunnville’s MacDonald answered back to tie the game before the end of the period. Connor Stirling took the lead back for Hagersville a few minutes into the second, but Mudcats Bourdon and Matthew Fang each scored to give Dunnville the lead at the end of the period. Wesley Fritz tied the game for Hagersville five minutes into the third, and Stirling put them over the top with his second of the night. The Hawks held on until the buzzer rang for a 4-3 win. It was a very well-behaved game, with the Mudcats spending 12 minutes in the box on six infractions and the Hawks spending only six minutes in the box on three infractions. Despite the few powerplay chances, three of Hagersville’s four goals came on the powerplay, as did one of Dunnville’s. Jamie Ferguson made 20 saves on 23 shots in net for Hagersville, while Davison made 37 saves on 41 shots in net for Dunnville. This was the final game of the regular season for Dunnville.

Hagersville Hawks