The Varsity \Hockey kicked off the New Year just north of the Zilwaukee bridge meeting the Saginaw Heritage Hawks for a Saturday night (January 4th) tilt. Sophomore goalie Ben Johnson started for the Eagles in net and fielded all eight shots the Hawks mustered in the first period. The Eagles dominated puck possession and put up 15 shots of their own but couldn't crack the Hawks' egg. 0-0 after one.

The scoring picked up in the second period with Saginaw nabbing two back-to-back tallies before junior Gavin Hewitt surprised the Hawks' goaltender with a one-time ripper from the left circle. The puck found it's way back to Hewitt when senior Joel Slicker pancaked a Hawks' defender in the crease allowing freshman Vince Modica to collect the puck and move it to Hewitt for the goal. 1-2 Hawks after two.

Saginaw would muster only two shots in the third period but one of them had eyes and bounced through an Eagle defender and goalie to put them back up by two with 15 minutes to go. LHS needed a spark and they needed it quick. Junior Zane Austin provided just that when he threw a thunderous body check directly in front of the SHHS bench. It was a clean hit but the Hawks lost their cool and tackled junior Nate Dell seconds later. On the ensuing power play Hewitt drew the assist when he flipped the puck to Modica who neatly caught it, dropped it and slid it under the goalie for his second point of the night. Captain Adam Trzcinski tied the game up when he plowed home a rebound off of junior Austin Scanlon's shot. 3-3 after three periods. 

MHSSA regular season games tied after regulation extend to an eight-minute 5 on 5 sudden death overtime period. The teams would only use 6:45 of the allotted time thanks to Trzcinski successfully clearing the puck up to Scanlon in the Hawks' zone. Scanlon collected the puck and found linemate Dell at the net. Dell tucked the puck between the goaltender's pads and just like that it was time to shake hands and take a much shorter drive home. 

Coach Ronayne: "We outshot them 41 to 21 but we needed more presence at the net. After Big Rig's (Austin) huge hit we found our way and scored three unanswered goals all at the net. Always nice to get a come from behind win."

Next up for the 7-5 Eagles is a big test against the Division 3 state champion Cranbrook Cranes. Jan 8th 7 pm Wallace Ice Arena.