On Tuesday, January 27, the Mound-Westonka Boy’s Hockey team traveled to Delano for a match-up with the Tigers. The White Hawks had defeated the Tigers earlier this season at a tournament in Duluth, and Delano was determined not to let it happen again. Six minutes into the first period, the White Hawks took a penalty, and the Tigers quickly took advantage for a 1-0 Delano lead. Two minutes later, the White Hawks took another penalty, and near the end of that penalty, Delano converted another power play goal for a 2-0 lead. The Tigers added a third goal with 4 minutes left in the first period, and took a commanding 3-0 lead into the first intermission.
The White Hawks closed the gap to 3-1 about five minutes into the second period, when Ben Curti took control of the puck behind the net, and fed it to Riley Horgan working in the corner. Horgan made a quick pass to Riley Williams, who was driving to the net, and Williams redirected the pass into the near side of the net. But Delano came back to extend the lead to 4-1 with 6 minutes left in the second, when they converted their third power play goal of the night. The White Hawks then took advantage of a Delano penalty to close the gap to 4-2 after two, when Nick Kuehl fed Riley Horgan moving up the side on the power play, and Horgan moved into the circle to take a shot. The shot was deflected by a stick and came back to Horgan, who stopped it with his skate and put a quick rebound shot past the goalie.
Just two minutes into the third period, the White Hawks drew within one at 4-3, when Riley Horgan once again brought it up the side, and as he was slowed down against the boards, he slid a pass to Ben Curti in the close slot, and Curti slid it over to Kirby Horgan on the far edge of the net. Kirby pulled the puck back and fired a wrist shot past the goalie. Delano took a couple of penalties in the third, giving the White Hawks a good chance to tie the game on a power play, but the Tiger defense did not break, and they sent the White Hawks home with a tough 4-3 loss.
On Thursday, January 29, the White Hawks traveled all the way down to Rochester for a match-up with Rochester Lourdes. Lourdes jumped out to an early 1-0 led in the first on a power play goal, finally stuffing in the third rebound after a couple of stops by goalie Aaron Davis. Lourdes stretched the lead to 2-0 just 39 seconds into the second period, on a quick shot that beat Davis to the upper corner of the net. But the White Hawks took advantage of two Lourdes penalties late in the second period to tie the game at 2-2 after two. With just 3 minutes left in the second period, Tanner Botts took as shot from the point, and during the flurry in front, Riley Horgan popped the puck in the open side of the net to make the score 2-1. Then, on another power, play, and with just a minute and a half left in the period, Riley Horgan passed the puck from the point to Kirby Horgan in the corner. Kirby stepped out and took a shot, and Ben Curti was in front of the net to hammer home another rebound, tying the game at 2-2.
The third period was evenly played, but the White Hawks capitalized on another rebound with just 4 minutes left to play, when Broc Couser took a slap shot from the point, and Ben Curti was once again in front to slam in the rebound, giving the White Hawks a huge 3-2 win on the road. In goal, junior Aaron Davis made 38 saves, keeping the White Hawks in the game and giving them the chance to come back and win.
On Saturday, January 31, the White Hawks hosted Meadow Creek Christian, a team playing their first year of varsity hockey. The White Hawks took a commanding 4-1 lead in the first period. Their first goal came just 2 minutes into the game, when Tanner Boots moved the puck from one point to Broc Couser at the other, and Couser’s shot left a rebound in front that Ben Curti slammed in. Five minutes later, the White Hawks made it 2-0 when Riley Hanson blocked a Meadow Creek shot at the White Hawk blue line, picked up the loose puck , and took it all the way in, hitting the far upper corner of the net. The third White Hawk goal came just 30 seconds later, when Cody Anderson brought the puck around behind the net and passed it to Matt Stahlke in the circle. Stahlke’s shot was partially stopped, but slid past the goalie into the net. Then Ben Curti picked up his second goal of the afternoon, when Kirby Horgan left the puck in the corner for his brother Riley, and Riley found Curti in the center slot, and Curti’s shot found the upper corner of the net. Meadow Creek got a goal from the far side of the circle with just 25 seconds left in the period, giving the White Hawks a 4-1 lead after one.
In the second period, Riley Williams took the puck from the corner to the net, and when his first shot was stopped, he hammered in the rebound himself for an unassisted goal. Meadow Creek closed the gap to 5-2, but the White Hawks answered when Kirby Horgan took the puck along the side boards, and made a perfect backhand pass to Ben Curti in front of the net, and Curti made a pretty backhand shot into the top of the net, giving him the hat-trick on the afternoon. But Meadow Creek would not give up, and cut the lead to 6-3 before the end of the period.
In the third period, the White Hawks took control of the game and finished off the scoring with 4 more unanswered goals. Kirby Horgan put one in with 11 minutes left in the game, getting an assist from his brother Riley. Then with help from Tanner Botts, Kirby returned the favor, setting up Riley, who put the puck away for an 8-3 White Hawk lead. Riley Horgan added another goal just 42 seconds later, on a nice assist from defenseman Nick Kuehl,. And Colby Kratch closed out the scoring, when his last second shot from center ice slid into the open net, for a final 10-3 White Hawk win. The White Hawks had 43 shots on goal, while in our goal, senior Dan Swanson took 17 Meadow Creek shots on net.
