Zach leads Falcons attack

The St. Catharines Falcons made it six wins in a row with a 10-4 win over the Thorold Blackhawks Thursday at Thorold Arena. PHOTO BY: COLIN DEWAR

Zach Lawrence brings a level of consistency and reliability each time he steps on the ice for the St. Catharines Falcons.

The 19-year-old forward is a solid, two-way winger who can also kill penalties and chip in on offence as well.

Lawrence collected three assists Thursday as the Falcons defeated the  Thorold Blackhawks 10-4 in a Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League, Golden Horseshoe Conference game at Thorold Arena.

The win extended the Falcons’ win streak to six games. Overall, St. Catharines lead the standings with a 7-1 record.

The Blackhawks dropped to 2-4-1.

Lawrence, who played for the Ancaster Avalanche last season, now has three goals and seven points in his first eight games for St. Catharines.

“I was going to leave to go out west but then I talked to St. Catharines and thought it would be easier just to stay at home and play,” Lawrence said. “It’s been a breeze so far. Everyone has been super nice and welcomed me with open arms. I remember my first practice guys were coming over to me and taking their gloves off to shake my hand.”

Lawrence said the Falcons simply told him to continue to play his game and he would fit it with the club.

“Consistency is what wins championships and being able to rely on guys night in and night out and I think we have a lot of guys, a good core group of guys who bright it every night,” he said.

Falcons coach Dan Fitzgerald appreciates was Lawrence brings to the table.

“He’s a really hard working kid,” Fitzgerald said. “I’ve been really happy with him. He creates a lot of space (for line mates Hayden Broomhead and Tanner Ferreira) and he chips in. I know what I’m going to get out of him and he’s a fantastic penalty killer.

“He’s been a great addition for the team both in the locker room and on the ice.”

The Falcons dominated the opening 20 minutes jumping out to a 5-1 lead. Shots were 11-9 for in favour of St. Catharines as the Falcons capitalized on several odd-man rushes against a helpless Anthony Tremonte.

St. Catharines built their lead to 7-1 in the second before a pair of late goals by Thorold narrowed the gap to four goals after 40 minutes.

Overall, it was a sloppy effort by both clubs.

“I wasn’t happy with our second period. I thought we got away from it and got sloppy and that can happen,” Fitzgerald said. “These games, we need to be dialed in.”

Down the hall, Thorold coach Scott Barnes stated the obvious after such a lopsided loss.

“I think we’re going to really go over this one,” he said. “We’re going to go over some things and get back to basics.

“We had a pretty good start and we can skate with these guys but once they got a goal, it kind of deflated us and the next thing you know it’s 4-1. We learned that if we make those mistakes against a good team, they’re going to bury it.”

The Falcons gave young Riley Eberhardt his first start of the season in net

Hawk talk: Kyle Martin, Jacob Mastrangelo and Trent Sheldon did not dress for the Hawks . . . Dante Copps and Nathan Smilsky were scratched for the Falcons  . . . Falcons captain Michael Davies was given a 10-minute misconduct late in the second . . . St. Catharines forward Carson Eden was given a game misconduct for a head check in the middle period . . . Officials for some reason were not giving the official scorer second and third assists on most goals. The stats were corrected following the game after consultation with the teams.

STATS PACK

BSPN Star of the Game: St. Catharines forward Zach Lawrence with three assists.

For the St. Catharines Falcons: Michael Davies 2 (7,8); Jaleel Adams 2 (2,3); Tanner Ferreira (4); Hayden Broomfield (4); Matt Busby (13); Noah Perlic (2); Carson Eden (2); Tristan deJong (1).

For the Thorold Blackhawks: Brendan Charlton (4); Matthew Chard (4); Matthew Dolan (2); Daniel Rocco (1).

Game stats: Shots on goal: By Thorold on Riley Eberhardt (30), by St. Catharines on Anthony Tremonte (33); Power plays: St. Catharines 1-for-2, Thorold 0-for-4; Penalty minutes: St. Catharines 23, Thorold 16.

Attendance: 287.

Up next: The Falcons host Fort Erie Friday at 7 p.m. The Blackhawks travel to Buffalo Sunday for a 7 p.m. start.