The Hawks overcame a slow start to defeat Middleville TK by a score of 5-2 in Monday's opening round of the OK Gold tournament.

In a rematch from just two days prior, the Trojans got on the board first as a cheeky chip over a defender inside the 18 was volleyed past goalkeeper Kip Forness as his defense sat back on its goal line in the 16th minute.

Just 90 seconds later, the Trojans served a free kick to the near post, where it was headed into the back of the net for a 2-0 lead.

The Hawks struggled to regain their composure and looked to Senior Captain Brandon Underwood to provide a spark.  The ball was played through and over the defense repeatedly until Underwood was able to capitalize on a shot from the 18 that caromed off the far post and into the net in the 28th minute.

Buoyed by the shift in momentum, the Hawks settled down and began to attack methodically.  With time winding down in the first half, Underwood slotted a ball across to Matt DeVries, who buried a shot with :02 on the clock to equalize.

Middleville raised their level of play to start the second half and created a few scoring opportunities, including a 1v1 that was stuffed by goalkeeper Nick Hopkins.

In the 52nd minute, Underwood again went to work.  He beat two Trojan defenders and played a small diagonal ball to Junior Alex Harrison, who made a cool finish past the Middleville goalkeeper, to put the Hawks up 3-2.

Just 48 seconds later, Mitchal Rosendall played a brilliant free kick into the box, where it was volleyed home by Matt DeVries.

Another quick strike by Eastern just 2:47 later would ice the game, as Rosendall played a through ball onto the feet of Underwood, who would score his 15th goal of the season and put the Hawks up by the final score of 5-2.

The win moves FHE to 9-4-3 overall and 5-3-0 in the OK Gold.  The Hawks will travel to Caledonia on Monday for the second round of the OK Gold tournament.  The Scots prevailed 1-0 in the previous matchup.  Kickoff is at 6:45pm.