Shorthanded Nighthawks keep perfect season alive

The Nighthawks won yet again despite missing their starting goalie, defensive phenom Travis Feravich, and Ariel Dews. The team responded by bringing up Jordan "Popapalooza" Hendricks from the minors, and putting Andrew Willis on defense for the second straight week. This worked well again for the Nighthawks who improved to 3-0 on the season, and got their first win against Los Hooligans. This 9-5 win was a hard-fought battle. At the half it was 4-1 thanks to two goals by Sherif and another one by Veronica. Both the number one offense and defense in the league seemed to slow down a little as before too long the score was 6-5 in favor of the Nighthawks. Sherif scored his fifth goal of the night with a little over 10 minutes left in the game. Another goal by Leanne and shutdown defense of the Nighthawks iced the game. Mike Roos won his first game in goal as he stopped 66 percent of the shots he faced. He will have to play just as well next week as Luke Bahrou will miss his second game in a row. On the bright side, Travis Feravich will be back to help out the number one defense in the league.

Nighthawks offense continues

The Nighthawks added 12 more points this game as they finally beat the Ball Busters 12-3. This game has really given the Nighthawks confidence for the rest of this season. The Ball Busters have been a thorn in the side of the Nighthawks for the last few seasons, and this huge victory has made them believe that they can go really far this year. The girls once again helped to boost the Nighthawks to victory. A close game through most of the first half finally broke open when Leanne scored a goal, and this was followed 37 seconds later with a goal by Ariel. The Nighthawks went into the half up 6-1. Saxon Feravich made sure that his team knew not to let up because this team is one that has the offensive power to come back. There was no such let up this game as Abby added two more goals and both John and Sherif had one for a total of 12. This was the first game for first round pick Brooke Rodwell, who impressed with a +2 and one assist. The main thing was her aggressiveness on defense that impressed the coaches the most. Andrew Willis started on defense with Saxon and this duo combined for a +22, six assists, and seven shots in the absence of Travis. Luke Bahoru picked up player of the week honors with his three goals against (one on a penalty shot) and an 80 save percentage. This is a bittersweet victory though as Luke injured his ribs in the game and is out indefinitely. Next week Mike will step back into the goal, and Andrew will still play defense. This will be challenge for the Nighthawks , but if they can continue playing the way they have been with 33 goals, 7 goals against, and a +26 goal differential (all of which are first in the league) they have a chance. Also, Saxon will have to continue his amazing plus/minus ability, which as of right now is tied for a career high after just two games. It is gut check time for the Nighthawks and it will take place next game.

Nighthawks start season in unfamiliar territory

The Nighthawks started their new season in completely different fashion then they have been accustomed to the last few seasons, with a win. The off-season proved to be the big difference for the Nighthawks. They were able to re-sign Leanne, Carissa, and defensive superstar Travis Feravich. Also, they decided to bring up Ariel and Abby from the minors, and that decision made an impact right away. The Nighthawks went into the first game with a ton of confidence and won the game 21-4 over the Cowboy Killers, a new expansion team this year. The first minute was not good for the Nighthawks as they seemed to be a little out of sync. It didn't help that Sherif didn't show up on time either, and all of this ended with a quick goal for the Cowboy Killers. The experience of the Nighthawks proved to be an asset because they did not let this setback get them down. Andrew Willis came right back and scored a goal to tie up the game, and from there the Nighthawks didn't look back. This game showed off all of the Nighthawks' abilities, and each person did what they were picked for this team to do. The main deference with this game from other ones is the ability of the girls to score, and that is something they hope will continue all season. Sherif had two goals in this game, and Andrew had one, but that was it for the guys scoring. The girls really brought out their ability to score. Veronica had three, Leanne had two, Abby had two, Ariel had one, and Carissa had one. With nine girl goals it is almost impossible to lose, especially when you have Luke Bahrou in goal. He has now won four of his last five games. Saxon Feravich recorded one of his best games ever. He had a career high in assists with five, and in plus/minus with a +11. After the game he said that this was the team he was hoping to have. "We have come a long way, and grown together as a team. This is the team everyone wants to have," Saxon said. This game was not all good news though as it was later found out that Travis Feravich broke his toe, and he will be out for at least two weeks. His +9 and four assists will be missed, but Andrew Willis will try to fill the void as best he can next week as the Nighthawks look to continue their offensive explosion.

Nighthawks win series with victory

The Nighthawks won the tiebreaker game 10-7 against Here For The Beer on Thursday. This marks the first series win for the franchise, and a look ahead of some great things to come. Player of the week, Leanne Mitchell, scored a goal and added an assist in this game. That gives her three goals in her last four games. Andrew Willis was also able to break out of his scoring slump, and with the team having finally figured out their lines the team will expect more of this from him next season. Luke Bahrou played another great game in net, and the team has officially made him the starter for next season. The Nighthawks saw a lot of improvements this game. The main one that stuck out was Sherif coming back to play some defense when he was needed. As a pure offensive player Sherif has not played much defense, but a team meeting circled around team defense helped Sherif to play more defensively. The Nighthawks finished the season 3-1 for a final record 0f 3-5. This is not as bad as it seems as four of those five losses were by only one goal. The Nighthawks will make a few roster changes in the off-season, but it seems they finally have the team they want to make a run at the top. Expect great things from them.

Series tied, one game left

With a 1-0 series lead against Here For The Beer, the Nighthawks came into this game looking for the sweep. This was not to be however as the team fell 6-5. The Nighthawks were in a hole 5-2 until halfway through the second half when Sherif scored. The next goal was scored by Travis as he had his first career goal, and the celebration was priceless. That was as close as the Nighthawks would get though as a late goal sealed it for Here For The Beer. The real story is the rivalry that has seemingly developed between these two teams. It seems the Nighthawks can't make friends with any of the teams, but this one got more physical than ones in the past. After last week when Billy was punched, the physicality has only increased. There were quite a few injuries that occurred in this game including Carissa who had to be carried off the field. Andrew Willis and the Feravich brothers were right in the middle of this trying to make an impact for the team. Andrew caused a lot of fouls, either for or against his team, but the team knows that Andrew is a tough player and that is his style of play. As for the Feravich brothers, they made it very hard for the other team to enter their zone, and get quality shots off. This will set up for a great deciding game next week.

Nighthawks win two in a row

It took the Nighthawks two less games to win the same amount of games that they won all of last year. The story was once again the goaltending of Luke Bahrou. This time it was a little harder with the absence of top defender Saxon Feravich, but the team still won 7-6 against Here for the Beer. Rachel Willis was also missing from the game, and this caused Jordan Hendricks to be called up from the minors for one game. He made a great impact in his first major league game with a +3 in the stats column. John came back from his injury to test out his legs. He recorded two assists, and it is uncertain if the team will play him in the last two games. Also Emily played forward for the first time this year, and she came up with an assist. Sherif was named player of the week with his goal and two assists. Veronica also seems to be on a roll as she recorded her second five point game in a row, with two of them being goals. Leanne added the last goal that ended up being the game winner after a great blocked shot and pass from the team's acting A+ captain Andrew Willis. Star defenseman Travis Feravich also had a solid game defensively. The team seems to finally be on the same page, and unless some injuries occur the entire team should be healthy for the last two games. "I think finishing the season with four wins in a row would be an amazing accomplishment for our team, especially with the injuries and problems our team has had the first couple of games," said captain Saxon Feravich. One thing the team has been missing is scoring from Andrew Willis. He has not scored in the last two games after scoring four goals in two games. He has been playing more defensively especially since Saxon was gone last game, but his secondary scoring would be beneficial for the team. With two games left the team will probably shift people around to see where they fit for next season.

Nighthawks found goalie for rest of season

With the Nighthawks struggling to keep their team together, and their team not showing up every week it has been hard for this team to find ways to make it through the season. This week there was no Emily yet again, and back-up goalie Mike could not make it for personal reasons. To counter this the team decided to put their second round pick from last year, Luke Bahrou, back in goal. Luke lost his starting job in the first game of last season, and the team has yet to find a permanent goalie since, but it seems the team will go back to Luke, at least for the rest of the year. Behind the great goaltending of Bahrou and five points from Veronica the Nighthawks got their first win of the season, and still have a chance at .500. The final score of the game was 10-5 against Crossfire, a team they lost to earlier in the season. Other goal scorers were Carissa, Rachel, and Sherif (2). The defense of Saxon and Travis continued their dominance as they combined for a +10 in the game and had three points. The real story of the game was Luke Bahrou and his excellent goaltending. He made a number of great saves, and stepped in when the team needed him the most. With the team mainly focused on rebuilding for the next season it seems that having a set goalie for the last three games will allow them not to worry about that position from week to week. Captain Saxon Feravich said, "Now that we have our goalie set for the rest of the year I am hoping that we can get to .500 as a team, and use that momentum for the next season."