The Saugeen Shores Winterhawks finished the regular season with a flourish as they downed the Mapleton Minto 81's and boosted the Liv-A-Little Foundation with a hugely successful fundraiser Saturday night.
The final score was 5-1 in favour of the Winterhawks and Blake Underwood continued his torrid scoring pace recording his third straight game with a hat trick.
But the real winner on the night was Cystinosis research as the Winterhawks raised more than $6,800 through an auction that paid homage to one of Port Elgin's most popular hockey franchises.
The Winterhawks donned throwback Port Elgin Sunocos jerseys and the result was impressive both on and off the ice.
See also: Winterhawks to throw it back while paying it forward
Underwood opened the scoring midway through the first as the Winterhawks seemed to get a boost from the hometown crowd outhustling and outhitting the first-place 81's.
Brent MacDermid made it 2-0 during a second period power play when he banged home a rebound.
Jay Thomson's breakaway goal helped extend the margin in the second and Underwood collected his second of the game in the third period.
Mapleton spoiled Kevin McGivern's shutout late in the third but Underwood's third of the game with 30 seconds left put an exclamation mark on the win.
The distinctive blue and gold Sunocos jerseys were auctioned off throughout the game for the Liv-A-Little Foundation and sales of Sunocos hoodies, t-shirts and sweathshirts were brisk as hockey fans took a trip down memory lane.
The Winterhawks now turn their attention to the playoffs as they face the Durham Thundercats starting next weekend, with Game 1 on Friday, February 5 at 8:30 p.m. at The Plex.
with files from winterhawks.net.
