KIRKLAND LAKE, Ont. – The Trenton Golden Hawks (OJHL) got a pair of tallies from Hunter Fargey and a goal and two assists from Danny Hanlon to help lead them to a 5-1 triumph over the Kirkland Lake Gold Miners (NOJHL) Wednesday evening in Game 4 of the 2016 Dudley-Hewitt Cup Central Canada Jr. A Championship at the Joe Mavrinac Community Complex.
With the victory, the Golden Hawks also secured a berth in Saturday’s championship game while the Gold Miners will play in the semifinal Friday evening vs. the rival Soo Thunderbirds (NOJHL), who they’ll also meet in the final round robin contest Thursday night.
The title holders from the Ontario Junior Hockey League carried the play through the opening 10 minutes of the contest, but Trenton could not solve Kirkland Lake netminder Joe Marcoullier early.
A splendid individual effort allowed the Gold Miners to get on the board first as Marc-Antoine Arseneau collected a clearing attempt from a Gold Miners defender in the neutral and as he sped down the left wing, he grabbed a rebound off his own shot and as he was cutting around the goal, he neatly tucked the puck into the short side past Trenton starter Daniel Urbani for the lone tally of the frame.
The Golden Hawks continued to carry the play into the middle session and were rewarded with the equalizer near the five-minute mark as Hanlon set-up Fargey in the slot and he made no mistake wiring one past Marcoullier.
The OJHL champs kept coming and took the lead for good at 7:44 with Liam Morgan labelling his effort into the back of the net for his first of the tournament.
Special teams allowed Trenton to add another before the second stanza was complete as Hanlon finished off the work of Josh Allan and Adam Clements during a man advantage opportunity at 17:08.
The Golden Hawks added another 5:46 into the third as Clements broke out hard out of his own zone, made a crisp pass up ice to Hanlon who dashed down the right wing and proceeded to feed Fargey, who snapped home his second of the night over the outstretched glove of Marcoullier.
Jordan Chard capped off the night’s scoring with 2:15 to go as he corralled the puck following a face-off deep in Kirkland Lake territory as he cut from left to right and lifted a shot over the sprawled Gold Miners netminder to wrap things up.
Final shots on goal favoured the winning side by a 52-24 margin with Urbani earning the decision and Marcoullier the setback.
Round robin play at Dudley-Hewitt Cup concludes Thursday with a pair of games on the docket.
Trenton (2-0) will meet the Fort Frances Lakers (0-2) (SIJHL), who have been eliminated, at 2 p.m. while an all-NOJHL match-up features the Gold Miners (1-1) taking on the Thunderbirds (1-1) at 7:30 p.m. in a preview of Thursday’s semifinal.
For more information on the Dudley-Hewitt Cup visit the official CJHL – DHC website at centralcanadianchampionship.com.
