Nighthawks looking for turn-around year

The Nighthawks are coming off a 2-6 season last year, but the expectations as a team are very high. All of the players are returning this year except for John Mosley who was placed on IR for the year after getting injured in the final game of last season. The big signing this offseason was Veronica Livingstone. This is a huge signing for the Nighthawks, especially since she had four goals in two games. When Captain Saxon Feravich was asked about how he felt the team would do this year he said, "Our whole team is coming back with a year of experience, and after looking at our division I will be shocked if we don't win it this year." Other news for the Nighthawks has to do with Sherif Hassanien, who was upset about the money in his contract. After some debating he decided to sign a contract extension with the team. He had this to say afterward, "Now that you guys are comfortable with me I am going to take my play to the next level." This is good news for the Nighthawks because an uncomfortable Sherif had 12 goals last season. The season expectations are high this year as Saxon said a .500 record would be a disappoinment.

Player Expectations:
Andrew Willis- Finish year with 16 points, and third on the team in goals.

Beatrice Hilado- 10 points and two of them goals.

Carissa Coon- Keep up the physical play.

Emily Theodore- Have five wins.

Kaitlin Cooper- 10 points and two of them goals.

Leanne Mitchell- 10 points for the year.

Luke Bahrou- Finish year with 16 points, and fourth on the team in goals.

Mike Roos- Try to go three full games without getting injured, and +5.

Rachel Willis- Six points and a couple goals.

Saxon Feravich- Try to get a point per game, lead the team in plus/minus, and a goal would be nice.

Sherif Hassanien- He has to be the new points leader of this team with John on IR. A 30 point year is expected.

Travis Feravich- Try to get a point per game, second on the team in plus/minus, and a few of his great dances, and a goal would be the greatest thing ever.

Veronica Livingstone- She had four goals in two games, but 16 goals may be too much. Sherif had 12 goals last year, and now Veroinca needs to be the secondary scorer. 12 goals will be 24 points on the board so that would be good.

Nighthawks finish season on high note

The Nighthawks finished their season with a victory, 17-8 over Here For The Beer. This game was definitely a turning point for the team as they are looking toward the future. The team has to feel especially confidant because this win came without defenseman anchor Travis Feravich. Veronica, who was picked up last week, had three goals, and in just two games finished with a total of four goals which was good enough for fourth on the team. Sherif Hassanien also had three goals to finish second on the team with 12. The first half began with the typical dominance we have come to expect from the Nighthawks, the team was just out-running everyone and it looked like this would be an easy win for the Nighthawks. It wasn't until there was under a minute left that Beatrice Hilado, who was claimed off waivers by Here For The Beer then re-signed by the Nighthawks in free agency, scored to pull her team within 3. Fans were nervous that there would be another second half collapse, but no such thing happened as the Nighthawks buckled down, and finished their rout. This game was truly a team effort as it seemed everyone was on the score sheet. Rachel Willis had her first goal, the dynamic duo of Luke Bahrou and Andrew Willis each had a goal, Leanne and Carissa each had a pair of assists, and Saxon once again moved permanently to defense only to finish with a +11 for the game. The only down side to this game was the fact that leading goal scorer, John Mosley, injured his leg and could be out all of next year as well. This will be a devastating loss for the Nighthawks, especially if they cannot re-sign Veronica for the upcoming season. While the season as a whole was not what the Nighthawks were expecting they definitely have a lot to look forward to next season, and this young team will be a force in the league soon.

Shorthanded Nighthawks lose close one

The Nighthawks fought valiantly again but had a similar result as the usual, a loss. Despite the fact that the Nighthawks were missing six regulars including their top two scores in John Mosley and Sherif Hassanien, they were also missing arguably their top defenseman in Saxon Feravich, and Leanne Mitchell, Carissa Coon, and Luke Bahrou, the final score was 9-4 with the game going to Crossfire. This loss seemed inevitable so it can not be put on the shoulders of the players that did attend. The game started off poorly for the Nighthawks as a short lob goal was scored by a female opponent and was out of reach of goaltender Arman, who was picked up for one game, and the General Manger had nothing to do with this. Other acquisitions for this game were Conor Milroy an Veronica Livingstone. After a bit of a sluggish start, the team had easily their best defensive game of the season with up and coming defensive stars Andrew Willis and Travis Feravich. Travis showed a chip off the old block of his brother with strong defensive play and Willis proved he is a top defenseman for any team in the league. Willis also added offense on with a goal and also drew 2 huge penalties in which Matt Roos capitalized on one. The defensive pair also both played 50 of 55 minutes taking only a 5 min break at the half. In addition to the defense there were some other positive sign for this young team. Veronica Livingstone had a goal, and was signed for the next session. They have a solid number one goaltender in Emily Theodore, and the main defensive core will return next year. There is however, a rumor that both John and Sherif might not return next season. Clearly the priority this off-season will be to resign both of these superstars.

Nighthawks will finish season below .500 with loss

The Nighthawks disappointing season continued with a 15-9 loss this past Thursday. Although the score looks bad, this does tell the whole story of the game. The Nighthawks played their usual first half and had a 4-2 lead. They fell apart in the second half, and it all started when Emily injured her wrist after stopping a shot. She was pulled for Mike Roos who let in five goals on six shots (three by girls). Emily decided to come back in and play through the pain, but she was not the same out there, and at that point the game was lost. John Mosley struggled this and said, "sometimes you have those bad games, and there is nothing you can do." There were some positives from this game, and one of them was Sherif, who took over in the second half and seemed to score every time he touched the ball. When asked after the game why he didn't do that more he said, "I didn't want to be a ball hog." The team later confirmed that they didn't care. Another positive was the defensive strength of Andrew Willis. He is becoming a better midfielder, and the team could really use that. This next game will be interesting as a number of minor league players will be brought up to take the place of a few players, including team captain Saxon Feravich, who will miss the game due to an undisclosed injury.

Nighthawks get big win over arch rivals

It has finally happened, the Nighthawks have won their first game of the season. It could not have come against a better team either, their arch rival Stormin Normin. The Nighthawks suffered a heartbreaking loss last week, and many felt that would carry over into this game, but it did not. The Nighthawks had a 5-2 lead at the half, and they coasted to victory 6-5. The team definitely learned from last week's loss , and made sure to play defense to secure the win. Along with the win, there were a lot of changes that the team made this week. First off, they put Emily in goal. She did very well stopping five shots, and posting the best GAA for a game this year. It seems the Nighthawks have found their goalie. Also, another player was picked up for the game, Sherif, who had five points that game, and was a huge asset to the team. The Nighthawks started the game with two quick goals by Sherif and picking up their physical game. This type of play led to a confrontation when Andrew Willis hit a player into the wall, and he took exception to that. They were assessed matching minors, but Andrew, along with the other two captains, made sure that the players knew they were here to play and not get pushed around. After Andrew got out of the box he responded by giving Luke Bahrou a great pass for the goal, and adding a goal later in that game. The other two goals were scored by John Mosley. Travis Feravich also added two assists. This team has finally found the recipe for winning, and we will see how that works out for them in the upcoming games.

Nighthawks have best game, same result

The Nighthawks looked like the team we thought they could be at the beginning of the year. They played their best game of the year by far, but fell just short 8-7. The Nighthawks looked unstoppable in the first half as they jumped out to a 5-0 lead. Goals were scored by John Mosley (2), Saxon Feravich, Andrew Willis, and Luke Bahrou. Mike Roos had an amazing game in net, making some unbelievable saves. His great goalkeeping was a huge boost for this team. Los Hooligans scored with under 30 seconds to go in the half, and that seemed to be the momentum changer. In the second half, the Nighthawks were outscored 7-2 (goals by John Mosley and returning Canadian Conor Milroy). The 1-3-1 style the Nighthawks switched to this game seemed to work. It is a new defense so it will get better in the games to come. The one thing they need to watch for is the back-door cuts, and rebounds. That is how a number of goals were scored from for Los Hooligans. Saxon said he was happy with his team's performance, but in the same regard disappointed with the loss. "We seem to finally have a plan to play this game, I just hope next week the ball bounces are way," Saxon said. The Nighthawks showed a lot of improvement in this game, and first the first time all season they were having fun playing. We will see if they can keep confidence for the game next week.

Nighthawks lose again

The Nighthawks had their worst outing of the year last Thursday when they lost 12-2 . The team that was favored to be at the top of the league this session is bleeding. They have no wins this year, and thing aren't looking any better for this team. When asked about the struggles this year, captain Saxon Feravich said, "I have no idea what is going on. We look good for the first five minutes and then we just lose it. By the end the game no one really cares anymore." So the question for this Nighthawks team is how can they keep up the intensity for a whole 50 minutes? Saxon has said he is going to start captaining this week, and there will be some line-up changes made. The Nighthawks also have some questions heading into tonight's game. Travis Feravich, the A+ Captain, my not make it to the game because of a curfew, and the same is true for Rachel Willis. Also, Andrew Willis is rehabbing an injury that has him listed as questionable for the game, and will probably affect his playing time if he goes. There is a silver lining though, the Nighthawks all-time assist leader and save percentage leader Conor Milroy is rumored to be at the game. He might provide some motivation. Regardless of what players show up the Nighthawks need to figure out this game and their team or they will be on their way to an imperfect season.