Eagles Edge Hawks in Battle of Birds 2016

     After seemingly righting the ship on Monday night versus the Generals of W&L, the Hawks had their wings clipped by their crosstown rival, the Eagles of Edison HS. On Edison’s senior night, the Hawks seemed poised to take this game, and bragging rights away from their fellow birds of a feather, but it was not to be, as the Eagles took control of the contest late in the 2^nd quarter, scoring twice in the last 53 seconds, to erase a one goal deficit, and go up one with 24 minutes to play. Hayfield was never out of this game until the closing minutes, but was unable to get their offense going, and played man down for 4.5 of the final 12 minutes, making a comeback difficult at best. In the end, Edison outworked Hayfield for loose balls, and capitalized on some key errors by the Hawks, leading them to protect senior night, and triumph with a 9-4 to victory.

    Hayfield was again buoyed by their goal tender, Nathanial Holic, who achieved a season high of 29 saves, eclipsing his 21 saves vs. Briar Woods. In all, he stopped 29 of 38 shots on net, and had another 20 either hit the pipes, or go sailing by his head. On the season, Holic’s saved percentage is a whopping 65.5%, and he lowered his goals against average tonight, by only allowing 9 goals.

    Other contributions included: Jr. A Carson Babcock, raised his team lead to 21 goals on the season with three more tonight. He also leads the Hawks with 27 points. Sr LSM Tyler Milhon returned to the field, after spending much of the past month in a walking boot. He was dynamic, instantly adding value, as he registered his first assist of the season, on a beautiful clear from Holic, who hit Milhon in stride, leading to Milhon’s assist on Babcocks 2^nd goal of the evening. So. A Ethan Artero, added to his team lead in assists, by getting three more tonight, raising his total to 12, and raising his points total to 21 on the season, 2^nd only to Babcock. Sr. MF Thomas Hughlet cranked from the top of the box for his 7^th goal of the season, giving the Hawks their only lead of the night 3-2, with 2 minutes remaining in the 1^st half. In the end, while partially explosive, the Hawks let too many opportunities pass them by, resulting in a 5 goal loss in the annual Battle of the Birds.

Goals/Assists/Pts. Scored By: Babcock (3/0/3), Reynolds (0/0/0), MacBeth (0/0/0), Hughlett (1/0/1), Pearson (0/0/0), Stevenson (0/0/0), Artero (0/3/3), Sipes (0/0/0), Milhon (0/1/1)