Mar 22, 2026 | Winterhawks News | 151 views
Hawks Win Two Different Ways
The Saugeen Shores Winterhawks found two very distinct ways of winning hockey games over the weekend.
The Winterhawks opened up the Ontario Elite Hockey League "A" Championship series with an 11-2 drubbing of the Tillsonburg Thunder on Friday night at The Plex.
The Winterhawks dressed a full lineup for the first time in many months for the first games of the series, while Tillsonburg made the long trek north with a much shorter bench.
Trevor Donaldson opened the scoring from Logan Freiburger, followed by Luke Pither on the power play and the Winterhawks had a quick 2-0 lead.
The Thunder got one back on the power play but Pither answered a minute later, dekeing through the Thunder defence for a beautiful goal to give the Winterhawks a 3-1 lead.
The Winterhawks again made use of their Affiliated Player pool, adding defenceman Wyatt McNabb, who started the season with the Winterhawks for three games before completing the season with the Jr. C Walkerton Capitals.
McNabb paid immediate dividends, making it 4-1 Winterhawks on a quick point shot off the draw.
Rob Flick, Brent MacDermid and Rob White scored early in the second period and the rout was officially on.
Tillsonburg got one back before McNabb added his second of the game, followed by fellow AP and Walkerton teammate Dylan Becker with his first as a Winterhawk and it was 9-1 Winterhawks after two.
Pither and Flick added third period goals to send it into double-digits and an 11-2 Game 1 victory.
Eric Peicheff made 34 saves in the Winterhawks net for the win and the 1-0 series advantage.
Less than 24 hours later, it was the Winterhawks turn to make the long drive, as they headed to Tillsonburg for Game 2.
The Winterhawks bench was not quite as deep as the previous night at home, while Tillsonburg added a couple players and the result was a much tighter affair.
The home side looked to atone for the blowout the night before and jumped out to an early 2-0 lead.
The Affiliated Players again paid off in spades for the Winterhawks, this time it was Hudson Wiles getting the Winterhawks on the board with a point shot with 30-seconds left in the first.
The power play goal cut the Tillsonburg lead to 2-1 after one period.
The Winterhawks controlled the play for the bulk of the second period, but it wasn't until the final minute of the second that Miles MacLean tipped in Keegan Angel's point shot to tie the game at 2-2.
Tillsonburg came out quick and restored their lead early in the 3rd to make it a 3-2 game.
The Winterhawks pushed for the equalizer as the clock ticked down.
With the goalie out and less than 20-seconds left on the clock, the Winterhawks gained control off a faceoff in the Tillsonburg zone.
The puck made its way to Mike Fiegehen in the slot and the big winger fired a shot past Tillsonburg goalie Ben Blacker to tie the game at 3-3 with 12-seconds remaining in regulation, sending the game to overtime.
Winterhawks netminder Clayton Fritsch was nothing short of spectacular in the extra frame, giving his team the opportunity they needed to win the game.
The opportunity came off the stick of Wiles, who broke into Thunder zone off a pass from MacLean. Wiles shot was stopped by Blacker, but the rebound deflected off the skate of a Tillsonburg defender into the net for the OT winner.
Fritsch made 49 saves for the Winterhawks to take the 4-3 OT win, giving themselves a 2-0 series lead and two wins away from capturing the McLean Trophy.
The series returns to The Plex on Saturday night, March 28th, for Game 3. Game time is 7:30 p.m.