The Notre Dame Hawks are in good shape to play in a playoff round at the Provincial 'A' Senior Men's Hockey Championship. They won their opening round robin match against Carberry 4-3 at Stride Place in Portage last night.

It's been a short rest for some of us here, some injuries, and some guys working but we managed to hold out for the win here tonight." says Hawks captain Steve Clark. "I think the Game 7 game caught up with us a little bit here. We wanted to sit back and pick our chances and we just ended up sitting back too much."

The Hawks took a 4-0 lead into the final twenty minutes of the game, and it looked like the Plainsmen were down-and-out.

Brian Michiels made it 1-0 Hawks in the first period. Matt Gingera and Jeff Clark picked up the assists on the play. They would add three in the second period. Hawks' captain Steve Clark made it 2-0, then Gingera followed it up with two of his own to make it 4-0. Gingera finished the night with four points.

Matt Gingera gets robbed on one of his multiple breakaways last night. He finished the night with four points. (Photo by Aaron Wilgosh)

It took just over 50 minutes for Carberry to find the back of the net, and it seemed like they weren't going to stop until it was tied. Ryan Halliday scored first with 8:18 to go. Garrett Fraser made it 4-2 1:22 later, and Dylan Kelly got them within one with six minutes to go. They threw everything at the net with the goalie pulled but couldn't find a way to tie the game before time expired.

"This win shows the depth of our team for sure," adds Clark. "We should have some reinforcements for Saturday's game so hopefully we can get another win."

The Hawks' road to the Manitoba Cup resumes Saturday against the Carillon Senior Hockey League Champions the Ste. Anne Aces at the MTS Iceplex.