The Hawks' extramural hockey men’s team won gold at its first home tournament of the year. They took top spot after playing four games in a round-robin tournament, beating teams from Laurier and Lakehead Universities, and Centennial and Fanshawe Colleges.
They outscored the opposition 16-2 in four games in the tournament, which began Nov. 20, against the Centennial Wolves.
The Wolves were the first to face the brunt of the Hawks, who eventually scored eight goals in a shutout.
The first goal of the tournament was scored just 30 seconds into the first game. Shortly after that, with 7:39 left to go in the first, the Hawks made it 2-0, then just 15 seconds after, they made it 3-0, urging Centennial to change goaltenders.
The second period was quiet until there were four minutes left, and Humber made it 4-0, leaving Centennial in a vulnerable situation heading into the third.
Five minutes into the third, Humber sinks a puck to make it 5-0.
Then, with a slapshot with 7:51 left in the third, the Hawks made it 6-0 and left Centennial in an almost impossible comeback position.
To finalize their first game starting the tournament, Humber set it off with 1:15 left with their eighth goal.
Kicking off the second day of the Hawks' tournament, they played Laurier University bright and early at Westwood Arena, and won that game 3-0 to take them to the second qualifying game against Lakehead.
The game against Lakehead University was the third game Humber played in less than 24 hours.
The first period was quiet. Both teams failed to produce a goal in the first period after many attempts and physicality from both sides.
“We had a long break after our first game. Nothing was really working," said Connor Grnak, alternate captain and forward for the Hawks.
Humber opened the scoring in the second period with a goal by the Hawks' captain, Mike McCullough.
“Yeah, we definitely got the ball rolling. Our captain is always someone we can lean on,” Grnak said.
That proved to be true after Humber won 3-1, with the captain getting two of those three.
Humber’s goaltender made some great saves to keep the team going.
“We had a slow first period, we were tired a bit because we had played a game earlier, but we bounced back. The team played really well,” goaltender Zach Cuvaj said.
The Hawks faced Fanshawe Falcons in the tournament finals, where they won 2-0.
The most valuable player awards went to Zach Cuvaj and forward Daniel Steffi.
The next time the Hawks will take the ice will be a Jan.16, hosted by Ontario Tech University in Durham.
The next Hawks home game will be an outdoor game in February.
