Philadelphia Hawks Soar Over North Carolina Tigers

It’s always good to start anything off with a win.

The beginning of a new era in Hawks history was a positive one, as the team held off the North Carolina Tigers 54-47 in their first home game at Lower Perkiomen Valley Park.

Both teams were looking to erase bad memories of their last two encounters.  The Tigers last visited Philly in 2011; they were badly outmanned, and the Hawks set several team records that day in a 119-point victory.  The clubs’ last meeting was in Durham two seasons ago, and the Hawks fell by 63 points in the Carolina sun.

The Tigers travelled with sixteen players this time, and played the Hawks to a much tougher contest.  This was mostly due to some great skill on their part, and that skill was augmented by a number of Hawks players who generously agreed to swap jumpers for a half and, in some cases, the entire game, to make sure the guests had a sufficient bench.

That said, though the Hawks were missing a key cog in the middle in Ryan McGettigan, the rest of the team picked up the slack and saw the win out in a most spirited contest.

The conditions were what you would expect in either locale at the end of June: sunny and hot.  The conditions would affect both teams and the interchanges would be key.

Despite their Division Four standing in the last two USAFL National Championships, the Tigers have proven themselves to be a tough squad, and they asserted that from the ball up.  The first three or minutes saw the ball camped in their attacking half, and defenders Justin Cox and Brad Gower would be busy early.  Though they would get numerous opportunities to stake claim to an early lead, Carolina could only put three minor scores on the board.

Indeed, the first quarter was a tad sloppy, with both teams dropping marks and spraying kicks.  But the Hawks would get things together and kick the first two goals of the game.  The Lemkau brothers, Emerson and Clinton, would help spur play up front, with Emerson kicking one of the quarter’s three goals.  Paul Welsh, Jim Madigan, and Jon Ginsberg would all have solid games against the Tigers strong backline, and they pushed hard in that opening term.  Veteran Jack Henderson was key in getting the ball forward, and when the quarter-time whistle went, the Hawks found themselves up 20-3, but lucky to even have the lead.

Both teams would get more opportunities in the second quarter, and again the Hawks defense would be busy thanks to some great running from North Carolina.  The Tigers’ Ben Wetzel and Brian Zimorowicz would harry the Hawks mid-back line, and the veteran leadership of Pat Miller and Nick Wolk would keep the damage to a minimum.  Evan Riddington’s speed would frustrate the midfielders and also create good movement. The Tigers forwards, led by Matt Sherman and Hawk-volunteer Brian Barrish, would get two goals in the second term, but great play from Cox and Gower would inspire the Hawks forward.

Alex Lyden is used to dominating games in the middle, both in the air and on the ground with his running.  He was put to the test on Saturday, and played well despite the constant Tiger attack.  Lyden, Jay Sacci, Dan Greenberg, Matt Schorr, Marc Comerotta and Florida-loanee Alex Mirakian pushed the ball back inside the Carolina 50-meter arc on several occasions, leading to three majors.  Ginsburg, who kicked four in the last metro game for the Old City Benjamins, opened his Hawks account with a nice goal, and the Hawks went into halftime up 40-18.

The Tigers would get some reinforcements in the second half from the Hawks.  Barrish and PJ Vignola would play the entire game for the yellow-and-black, and they were joined after the main break by Camerotta, Fred Getz, Danny Greenberg, Tim Hermann, and Jack Henderson.  All seven players would help out the Tigers admirably, with Camerotta and Greenberg each scoring goals for the Tigers.  If nothing else, though, this would create a bigger challenge for the Hawks, one that coach Jon Loring gladly welcomed.

In the third quarter, the Hawks were able to get some good opportunities and the play of Tom Caruso, Greg Glasgow, and Ray Cascella of the bench helped create good ball movement.  Adam Schippers, playing in his first full game for Philadelphia since coming down from Boston, provided speed and width out on the flank.

Despite getting more play forward, the Tigers defense was able to hold the Hawks to just two behinds while scoring two goals of their own and taking a big bite out of the lead.  Philadelphia’s lead was now down to just ten points at 42-32, and Loring told his team to dig in and see the game out.

North Carolina would hack into the lead right off the bat, and with two quick goals, brought the Hawks lead all the way down to two points.  But the Hawks spirit and resolve would not let the game evaporate all the way.  Jay Sacci, Pete Wolk, and newcomer Dave Anglim helped stem the tide and push towards the goal that would seal the game.  Tim Koen, doing his normal masterwork up front, was a big target and was an immense help to the success of the offense.  Emerson Lemkau, who would finish with four goals on the day, made a key tackle on the Tiger fullback in front of the goals, and would kick the decider with a minute to play.

When the dust finally settled, the Hawks had prevailed by seven points.  It was the closest regular season victory that the Hawks had tasted since their 61-60 win over Baltimore Washington in 2011, but it was a solid victory nonetheless.

Special thanks go out to Shane Duncan for a tremendous job umpiring the match. He logged a lot of km on a very hot day, handling the entire second half on his own, and covered a ton of ground to get to each play, all day long. Shane called a very well-officiated match and both teams were quite pleased with the umpiring and thankful for Shane’s effort.

For their part, coach Wes McAllister and his Tigers side put together a great performance, and matched up evenly with the Hawks to help produce a thrilling contest.

Hawks Head Coach Jon Loring was extremely proud of all of his players  who played for either N.C. or Philadelphia and is extremely happy with the new winning culture and style of play that the Hawks are beginning to adopt. He went on to say, “I can see great things happening for this club in the near and distant future. The boys are showing that they want to win. Both their resilience and desire were very clear in the closing minutes of that fourth quarter. Still some work to be done but a great foundation is being laid for months and years ahead. Well done to all.”

FINAL SCORE: Philadelphia 8.6.54 def North Carolina 6.11.47

GAME NOTES: No major injuries to report… thanks to Ben and Bill for goal umpiring… thanks to Larry West for keeping the scoreboard… thanks also to our volunteer boundary umpires… HUGE thanks to Dave Reeman for running water for us… of course, Thanks to Wes and the NC boys for a great match and for coming up for the match, looking forward to returning the favor next year.

The Hawkers now get to enjoy a three week summer break before heading back to the training ground.  They will have one Metro game on July 19th and then follow that up by hosting a round-robin tournament with the NY Magpies and BW Eagles at the Hawks new official home ground at Lower Perkiomen Valley Park on July 26th.