A late contested goal would shift the balance in favour of the Renfrew Wolves Tuesday night, as they beat the Hawksbury Hawkes 4-2 to take a 2-games-to-1 lead in their first-round CCHL playoff series.
After trading 4-1 victories with each other, the two sides were back at the Ma-te-Way Centre on Tuesday, March 28th for Game 3 of the best of 7 series.
Hawkesbury would jump out in front thanks to a power-play goal from Landon Brownlee in the first period, and despite the efforts of Elvis Slack tying the game early in the second, Hawkesbury would hold the lead heading into the twenty minutes of play thanks to a Remi Gelinas shot finding the back of the net.
The Wolves would turn up the heat late in the game as a scramble in front of the Hawkesbury net would see the puck trickle in after multiple hacks from Elvis Slack. The Hawks’ bench reportedly contested that there was a hand pass in the commotion, but the goal would stand after a long discussion between the officials on the ice.
From there, a reenergized Renfrew side would press the attack and eventually take a 3-2 lead when Tyson Phare found his first goal of the playoffs.
Brandon Waivada would clear the puck into an empty Hawkesbury net with seconds left to supply the dagger and secure the Wolves win and series lead.
The series now returns to Hawkesbury for Game 4, which runs at the Robert Hartley Sports Complex on Thursday, March 30th. Catch the game live on 96.1 myFM starting at 7:30pm.
(written by Kasey Egan)
