Prior to the start of the 2008 season, the Huntsville Hawks’ co-coach, Joe O’Halloran, hinted the first game of the year might not be the junior B lacrosse team’s best outing.

The rookie bench boss, who shares the duties with fellow ex-Hawk Bob Zangari, said that the team was running basic plays during practice leading up to the April 27 meeting in Markham with the Ironheads. He said the team that took the floor for that game would not be the one fans will come to know as the Ontario Lacrosse Association season unfolds.

It appears he may be right. The Hawks only managed three goals in their opener, letting a 2-0 lead disappear after just more than one period gone and allowing eight straight goals to their hosts in an 8-3 loss.

In all fairness, the Ironheads have been practising on the floor longer than Huntsville’s two-week timeframe and Sunday’s matchup was Markham’s second game of the season.  That edge perhaps proved to be one of the differences as the Ironheads regrouped after the first to take the game away from Huntsville.

“We played the first 21 minutes the way we wanted to play. We thought maybe the team was going to start the game all nervous and play with the jitters, especially some of the players who hadn’t played (junior lacrosse) before. But it was totally the opposite from what we expected. They came out flying.”

O’Halloran said the coaches wanted to use the game as a ‘last-look opportunity’ at some of the younger players before some of the veterans who were unable to play Sunday make their way back into the lineup.

He said after the first flurry of action in the second, the Hawks stopped playing with the confidence they had shown earlier in the game. “It was if the nervousness finally set in and we got into penalty trouble.”

O’Halloran said the difference in the game was the special teams. Markham counted seven of their eight goals on the powerplay, while Huntsville couldn’t find the range. The Hawks were whistled down for 18 minutes in penalties in the middle frame, when the Ironheads counted five of their goals.

“We had tons of chances on the power play but we couldn’t bury it. Our powerplay didn’t do much. We took 42 minutes in penalties but we only had six in the first period. We had nine penalties in the second and they scored five powerplay goals. That was the difference.”

He admitted that some of the Hawks’ infractions should never have happened.

“I don’t want to say that we were out of shape, but some of the penalties were them being lazy defensive penalties. A lot of it had to do with communication between guys who really haven’t played with each other that much. It is small stuff that can be ironed out in practice.”

Luke Walton, one of the veteran players expected to lead the team this season, counted two points for Huntsville. The Hawks opened the scoring after a mere 13 seconds when Owen Bennett scored the team’s first of the 2008 campaign on an assist from Walton.

Walton made the score 2-0 after only 21 seconds in the second period before the wheels fell off the Hawks’ ride and Markham shot eight balls past netminders Dylan Cowman and Andrew Bellini-Rutledge.

O’Halloran praised Bellini-Rutledge, who was a second-string goalie with the Hawks last year, for his work in the first and third periods.

“We decided that we would split the goaltending for this game and Andrew only let in three of the eight. He was amazing and practically stood on his head. This wasn’t Dylan’s fault. He had very little chance on the five goals, especially on the five-on-three situations. He only played a few minutes of even-strength ball.”

Huntsville will get a second crack at its Mid-East division rival this Sunday when they head down the highway again to Markham to take on the Ironheads. The Hawks will host the Cornwall Celtics in their home opener on Saturday at the Jack Bionda Arena.

There is a chance the two teams will be searching for their first win of the young season. The third-year Celtics are 0-2, dropping games to the Clarington Green Gaels and the Halton Hills Bulldogs last week. They are to face the Akwesasne Lightening tonight, a team that is also off to an 0-2 start.