Late Heroics Lead Hawks to 3-2 Victory

January 14, 2012 — The Warhawks pulled out a dramatic 3-2 victory over the Oregon Panthers in the Mullett Invitational on Saturday night. After falling behind 2-1 in the third period, the Hawks scored two goals in a 39 second span during the final two minutes of the game to gain the victory.

The Hawks controlled the puck, the pace of game and played lock down defense for the better part of the first two periods. However, despite outshooting the Panthers by a wide margin in the first two periods, AHS could only muster a 1-0 lead at the end of two.

Oregon hung around and did not give up. As time wore on, and it remained a one goal game, the Panthers gained confidence and momentum. The Panthers tallied two goals in the first six minutes of the final stanza to gain a 2-1 lead. That set stage for the amazing finish to the game.

After a scoreless first period, the Hawks got on the board at 3:07 of the second with a goal from Mike Adams. Garrett Opay took the puck down the boards on the left side into the attack zone and deftly slid a back hand pass to Adams who converted while driving down the middle towards the net.

At 1:18 of the third, the Panthers scored a power play goal to tie the game. Oregon then took the lead on a short handed goal at the 5:56 mark. The next nine minutes of the game were scoreless.

Trailing 2-1 with 2:04 remaining in the game, AHS called a time out. Coming out of the time out, the Hawks pulled their goalie and lined up for the face off on the right circle in their offensive zone with 6 skaters. AHS center Jared Johnson battled and controlled the puck off the face off. Johnson found Nick Peterson, who shook free in front of the left side of the net. Peterson took the pass and tied the score on a goal with 1:59 remaining in the game.

Johnson, the Hawks senior captain, put the finishing touches on a big night with a game winning goal with 1:20 remaining. The goal was set up by an outlet pass from goalie Parker McColl to Opay who was at the blue line near the left side boards. Opay passed to Johnson near center ice. Johnson then weaved his way around a couple of Panther defenders, broke free, raced toward the net and put a back hander through the five hole for the winning score.

For the game, the AHS had a 30-11 shots on goal advantage. With the victory, the Hawks finished the Mullett Invitational with a 2-1 record, good for second place. Tournament champion Verona finished 3-0 and defeated Waukesha 6-1 in the other tourney game played Saturday night.

The Hawks will now have a little down time before returning to the ice on January 24 when they will travel to The Ponds to face Classic 8 Conference foe Brookfield. Game time is 6:30 p.m.

Second Ranked Verona Upends Hawks in Mullett Invite

January 13, 2012 — The highly acclaimed Verona Wildcats downed the Warkhawks 4-1 in the second round of the Mullet Invitational Tournament. The Wildcats, now 15-1, and ranked number 2 in the state in this weeks wisconsinhockeyprep.com poll, prevailed despite a spirited battle and strong effort by the Hawks.

Verona had a strong first period and jumped out to a 3-0 advantage. However, the Hawks showed great resolve and adjusted well to the pace and tempo of the game over the final two periods which saw each team score one goal apiece. In the final two stanzas, the home crowd at the Mullett Ice Center was treated to a great deal of fast action, hard hitting and strong defense.

The Wildcats struck early with goals at 3:16 and 3:29 of the first period. Verona added a power play goal at 13:50 to go up 3-0 at the first break.

After the intermission, AHS came out and applied pressure on the Wildcats throughout the second period. The Hawks cut the lead to 3-1 when Tristan Rostagno drove to the net and scored on an unassisted power play goal at 3:18. The goal was initially waved off. After a lengthy conference, the officials ruled that indeed a goal was scored, and that the net was dislodged after the puck crossed the goal line.

The third period was marked by strong skating and good pressure by the Hawks. Although AHS outshot Verona 10-5 for the period, they were unable to convert any of their chances to goals. Verona tallied the final score of the game on a power play goal at the 12:15 mark.

Hawks goalie Parker McColl made several good saves and stopped 26 of the 30 Wildcat shots he faced. McColl and his Warhawk teammates held the Wildcats high octane offense, which came into the game averaging eight goals per game, to just one goal over the final two periods. For the game, Verona outshot AHS by a margin of 30-19.

In the other Mullett tourney tilt played on Friday night, Oregon defeated Waukesha 2-1 in overtime. On Saturday, the Mullett Invitational will conclude with two games. At 5:15 p.m. Waukesha will play Verona, and at 7:15 p.m. AHS will face-off against Oregon. Both games will be played at the Mullett Ice Center. [Game Sheet]

2011 Alumni Game a Huge Success

December 26, 2011 — 38 participants put on a great show for over 100 spectators that came to watch the game held Dec 26.

The teams, divided loosely by age, had a back-and-forth battle with the "younger guys" edging the "older guys" by a score of 10-9.

Thank you to all the volunteers, players and spectators.

KM Tops Hawks in Second Admirals Cup Tilt

December 26, 2011 — The Hawks faced-off with Kettle Moraine in their second game of the Admirals Cup holiday tourney. The Lasers defeated AHS by a score of 6-2 on Monday afternoon at the Bradley Center.

Kettle Moraine found the back of the net for a pair of power play goals at 13:18 and 15:23 of the first period. In the second period, the Lasers went up 3-0 on a goal at 3:56. The Hawks rallied for two power-play goals in the middle of the second period to cut the margin to one.

Garrett Stadler rifled a slap shot from just inside the blue line that was tipped into the net by Colin Nowicki for the first Warhawk goal at 8:18 of the second. The Hawks second goal came from Mike Adams at 9:26. Sam Schultz maneuvered along the right side of the goal line and slipped a pass in front of the net to Adams who jammed the puck home for the score. The Lasers answered with a power play goal at 10:28 to go up 4-2 at the end of two. The Hawks had a shots on goal advantage of 13-3 for the period.

Two scores by Kettle Moraine late in the third period, the final being an empty netter, accounted for the final 6-2 margin. For the game, AHS outshot the Lasers 32-21.

The Hawks will face Greendale in their third and final Admirals Cup game on Wednesday morning at 11:00 a.m. at Wilson Park. [Game Sheet]

Hawks Fall to Whitefish Bay 2-1 in Admirals Cup Game #1

December 23, 2011 — On Friday afternoon, the Warhawks dropped a 2-1 contest to Whitefish Bay in the opening round of the Admirals Cup tournament presented by the Bradley Corporation.

The first period was scoreless until the Storm got on the board with a power play goal at the 15:17 mark. Whitefish Bay added a second score, and what proved to be the game winner, on a power play goal at 13:08 of the second period.

In the third period, the Hawks cut the deficit to one with an unassisted goal by Garrett Opay at 5:05. Opays shot from the right side of the right circle found the lower left side of the net. A wrap around attempt by AHSs Tristan Rostagno at 9:42, that would have tied the game at two, just barely missed the mark. Despite good offensive pressure over the last several minutes of the game, the Hawks were unable to convert. For the period, the Hawks outshot the Storm 10-3.

Arrowhead goalie Tim Routes stopped 16 of 18 Whitefish Bay shots. For the game, the Hawks outshot the Storm by a 30-18 margin.

AHS will now move on to the consolation bracket of the tournament where they will face Kettle Moraine on Monday, December 26 at the Bradley Center. Game time is set for 2:46 p.m. [Game Sheet]