The Elora Mohawks pushed their current win streak to five games by sweeping all three of their games last week, including a pair of important divisional games.
Elora netted a key 9-6 win over the Owen Sound North Stars last Wednesday night, then beat the Windsor Clippers 8-7 in overtime Saturday night on the road. They capped the weekend by getting seven points from Kyle Dobbie in a 13-6 win over the Guelph Regals.
In their win over Owen Sound, the Mohawks took control of the game with a 3-1 advantage in the first period and then built on that with a strong first half of the second frame. They led 6-2 at one point before the North Stars rallied for three goals in 2:20 to make it a 6-4 game.
Dobbie opened the scoring early in the third with Elora's second powerplay goal of the night, but the Stars answered back with two goals in two minutes to trim the lead down to 7-6. Dobbie added his second of the period to snuff out the Owen Sound rally, while Mark Pfohl scored his second of the game to ice the win.
In Windsor, the teams went back and forth for the first two periods and entered the final frame tied at 4-4. Elora's Jake Quarrie scored to put the Tribe out in front early in the period, but Windsor struck for three goals in four minutes to take a two-goal lead with 8:38 to play. Dobbie drew the Mohawks to within a goal with his only goal of the night, while Jake Weidner scored the game-tying marker with 27 seconds to play. Pfohl then won the game with the only goal of overtime, coming with a little under three minutes to play.
Perhaps a little sluggish from their long trip the night before, Elora came out flat against the Regals and played poorly in the first 14 minutes of the game. Guelph took advantage of that and held a 3-1 lead with six minutes left in the first, but Dobbie and Steve Hutchison scored 38 seconds apart to tie the game before the period ended.
The Mohawks then dropped the hammer on Guelph, outscoring them 6-2 in the second period to pull away, and then outscored them 4-1 in the third period for good measure to collect the victory.
Over the three games, Dobbie (5 goals, 8 assists) led the team in scoring while Shane MacDonald (2,3), Brady Heseltine (1,2), Weidner (5,5), Pfohl (6,2), Quarrie (3,1), Hutchison (2,1), Jason Bauer (1,2), Kyle Goss (2,1), Ryan Morrison (1,1), Jake Hostrawser (1,1), Brent Murphy (2 assists), Brock Harper (1 assist), Evan Benham (2,1), Alex Gleeson (4 assists), Brady Landoni (1 assist), Jordan Denny (1 assist) and Dan Humphrey (1 assist).
Following the win over Guelph, Goss said the team was taking a lot of positives out of their three-game stretch, but admitted they always had it in the back of their mind who was coming up next.
"We're happy about being where we are, but we know that we have Six Nations coming in here next and that's going to be a big game," he said. "I thought we did a lot of things well tonight - we fought for and won a lot of loose-ball battles off of face-offs, and we were five-man tough in those situations. Winning these division games has been huge for us, because that helps us get to where we want to be."
With Owen Sound mired in a four-game winless streak since beating the Tribe back on May 20, Elora knew if they could take care of business their road to a division title would be a lot clearer. And with Six Nations rolling into town, Goss knows every point they earn at this late stage of the season is an important one.
"We know they're coming in here with the same thing as always - they've got a quick transition team and they love to shoot from everywhere," he said. "It's fun playing them, and we're looking forward to putting in a big effort. We want to play well and set things up for a later meeting - this is our chance to show what we can do."
Mohawks head coach Dean George said things are starting to shape up to the coaching staff's liking, with the defence tightening up and everyone on the roster fighting harder for loose balls.
"We're becoming a tougher team to play against, and we have our improved areas to thank for that," he said. "I like how we've been playing in general of late, but one area that's gotten better is we're winning a lot more draws. Jason Bauer has greatly improved that area for us, and it's a huge benefit when you can start with the ball more often than not."
Addressing the upcoming game against the Rebels, George said it's been hard not to think about it in the time leading up to June 9. But with the conference's second seed all but secured with five games to play, George allowed himself a little leeway in talking about his next opponent.
"I think if we beat Six Nations and then run the table, we'll finish first in the conference," he said. "I think our guys are excited that this game is finally here, and I know a lot of them have had it circled on their calendars all year long. We went in there and won 6-5 last year, so it's nice to get this game at home. It's going to be a big challenge for us, but we're up for it. We have to reduce the separation between our defensive guys and their shooters because they'll pass to guys who are covered to get looks. We have to play a great game to win, there's no question about that."
When asked if he thought the Rebels were big favourites and some might consider this game a mismatch, George just smiled and rolled with the punches.
"I don't care if everyone else thinks this is a mismatch," he said. "We'll compete for every inch of the floor and let the chips fall where they may."
Following their meeting with Six Nations on Wednesday (game time is 8 p.m.), the Mohawks will host the Wallaceburg Red Devils on Saturday, June 12 (7 p.m. start), and then head to Orangeville to take on the Northmen Monday, June 14 at 8 p.m.