Feb. 19 weekend sports ticker: IceDogs; Brock basketball; River Lions; Junior B hockey
IceDogs drop OT decsion
The Niagara IceDogs’ winless stretch reached 10 games with a 4-3 overtime loss at Peterborugh Monday afternoon in Ontario Hockey League action.
The IceDogs, who last won Jan. 27 versus Sudbury, are now 26-21-6-3 and trail the Barrie Colts by 10 points for top spot in the Central Division.
Akil Thomas had two goals and Sam Miletic one for Niagara.
Zach Gallany and Brandy Hinz scored two each for the Petes. Hinz netted the winner at 1:48 of overtime.
St. Catharines native Dylan Wells made 24 saves to earn the win.
Colton Incze, making his second straight start, made 24 saves for the IceDogs.
The IceDogs are home to Saginaw Thursday, in Mississauga3 Friday and host North Bay Saturday.
Brock basketball
The No. 2 ranked Brock University men’s basketball team had its 12-game winning streak come to an end as they dropped a 96-83 decision to the Windsor Lancers on the road Saturday night.
The Badgers finish the Ontario University Athletics regular season with a school-best 21-3 record and will host the OUA quarter-finals Saturday night against either McMaster or Laurier. Those two teams meet Wednesday with the winner advancing.
“We’ve had a fantastic regular season,” Brock coach Charles Kissi said. “I’m really grateful to our players, our coaching staff, and all of our fans who support us.”
Kissi admits there isn’t much time to dwell on the best regular season in team history.
“Hats off to Windsor, they played really well on senior’s night but it’s playoff time so none of that matters,” he said. “We’ll get ready for Mac or Laurier next weekend. Every team is tied for first again and it’s up to us to separate ourselves back to the top.”
Brock had four players in double figures led by Johneil Simpson, who recorded 22 points and seven rebounds, highlighted by five three-pointers. Daniel Cayer contributed 16 points and 10 rebounds while Cassidy Ryan and Dani Elgadi chipped in with 14 and 12 points, respectively.
“I’d like to congratulate Dani Elgadi who played his final regular-season game. He’s had a remarkable career,” Kissi said.
Windsor’s Mike Rocca led all players with 27 points.
Lancers 68 Badgers 50
The women’s basketball team ended their season with a 68-50 loss at Windsor Saturday.
The Badgers finish the 2017-18 season in seventh place in the OUA West standings with a 6-18 record.
Windsor led 15-6 after the opening quarter and held a 31-17 lead at the half, en route to their 20th win of the regular season.
“I am proud of our fight tonight,” Brock coach Ashley MacSporran said. “Our goal was to communicate, value possessions and defend. We did all these things and made Windsor have to struggle to score for many minutes.
“Our plan was to force them off the three, as they are tremendous when they are hitting the three and scoring inside. We wanted to make the guards do something else other then shoot the three and keep them thinking. We did this very well.”
Brock had two players in double digits led by Stephanie Findlay and Lauren Zonneveld who recorded 13 and 10 points, respectively. Brooke Murdoch finished with five points, seven assists and four rebounds in her last university game.
Windsor’s Emily Provost led all players with 25 points.
The Badgers were without leading scorer Kristin Gallant who was out with an ankle injury. They also lost Courtney McPherson at the end of first quarter from an elbow to the head.
MacSporran is already looking forward to next season.
“We had lots of challenges this year and some great growth,” she said. “We saw the youth get great game experience and develop and that was what I wanted to happen.
“We look forward to putting work in this summer and developing areas we need to challenge next year.”
Junior B roundup
The St. Cathrines Falcons improved to 36-7-1-3 with a 9-1 victory at Welland Sunday night.
Giancula Fuoco and Liam Dunda had two goals each for the Falcons while Jaleel Adams, Kyle West, Noah Perlic, Michael Davies and Carson Edwardson added singles.
“It was a great win,” Falcons general/manager coach Frank Girhiny said. “We played for three periods and four lines were all rolling.
“I was really pleased with our power play. If it’s going we are lethal.”
Owen Savory picked up the win in goal, his 30th of the season which is a GOJHL record.
Noah Blakely replied for the Junior Canadians.
The Falcons conclude the regular season with three games this week: Tuesday at Buffalo, Friday at home to Ancaster and Sunday in Niagara Falls.
Panthers 5 Regals 4 OT
Pelham’s Adam Scholz scored in overtime to give the Panthers a 5-4 victory over the visiting Buffalo Regals Sunday afternoon at the Pelham Arena,
Matt Ruigrok paced the Panthers with three goals while Peter Izzo also scored.
A.J. Marinelli, Nash Braun, Tyler Kalley and Michael Sokol scored for Buffalo.
SATURDAY
Avs 3 Canucks 1
The Ancaster Avalanche took a 3-0 lead in the first period en route to a 3-1 victory at home over the Niagara Falls Canucks.
Kyle Kennery, Benjamin Woodhouse and Benjamin Hatanaka scored for the Avs.
Garrett Downie netted Niagara Falls’ lone goal early in the third.
Corvairs 9 Meteors 1
Adam Craievich netted three goals to pace the Caledonia Corvairs over the Fort Erie Meteors.
Griffin Roubos added two while Bobby Harrison, Jamey Lauzon, Owen Lane and Nolan Gardiner also scored.
Dylan Stroud replied for the Meteors.
Regals 6 Junior Canadians 5
The Buffalo Regals earned just their second win in regulation this season with a 6-5 victory at Welland Saturday.
Michael Sokol, Jeremy Ienco, Jeremy Ross, Logan Gare, Nash Braun and Devin Kasperek scored for the Regals, who improved to 2-40-0-4.
Matthew Giannini had two for Welland while Michael Dischiavi, Philip Liakakos and Noah Blakley added singles.
River Lions edged by St. John’s
The Niagara River Lions can’t quite get over the hump.
The River Lions dropped a 107-104 decision to the St. John’s Edge in Canadian Basketball League action Saturday before 2,354 fans at the Meridian Centre.
Niagara has dropped four straight to fall to 12-17. In their last three games the River Lions have lost by a total of seven points.
Niagara’s Jaylon Tate had a big game with with 23 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds. Guillaume Boucard added 25, Jaylon Tate 23 and Devonte Pollard and Adam Klie 11 each.
Carl English had 22 and Alex Johnson 16 for the winners.
The River Lions are home to London Sunday at 2 p.m.
