Falcons, Canucks come up short
The St. Catharines Falcons and Niagara Falls Canucks both came out on the wrong side of lopsided scores this weekend in Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League, Golden Horseshoe Conference playoff action.
The Falcons dropped a 5-1 decision at Ancaster while the Canucks were blanked 6-0 at Caledonia.
The Falcons and Ancaster are now tied 1-1 in their best-of-seven semifinal while the Corvairs have a commanding 3-0 lead.
Saturday in Ancaster, the Falcons and Avs were tied 1-1 after one. The Avalanche then added two in the second and two more in the third en route to tying up the series.
“It was a continuation from the third period (of Game 1),” Falcons general manager/coach Frank Girhiny said. “They were 2-8 on the power play and we were 0-8, but the difference was their penalties were real hard penalties and ours weren’t as hard.”
The Avalanche have shown themselves to be a formidable opponent.
“We need to refocus. It’s going to be a series,” Girhiny said. “They’re a hard-working team and if we’re going to let them wheel up the ice and not take away their lanes, they’re going to have their way with us.”
Benjamin Hatanaka had a pair of goals for the Avs while Macklin McPhee, Liam Van Loon and Dawson McKinney added singles.
Liam Dunda replied for the Falcons.
Ancaster outshot St. Catharines 40-33.
Game 3 is Tuesday at Jack Gatecliff Arena.
“The key winning is playing within your structure and that’s something where our guys need to get better,” Girhiny said. “I’m confident we will bounce back.”
Corvairs 6 Canucks 0
The regular season champions jumped out to a 3-0 lead after one period and are now within a victory of advancing to the finals.
“We got down 3-0 after the first and that kind of sucks the life out of you pretty quickly,” Niagara Falls coach Frank Pietrangelo said. “They got a couple of power-play goals and we also gave up a pair of short-handed goals which is very uncharacteristic for us.
“They’re a good hockey club and we have to be almost perfect to win and we weren’t.”
Eric Eschweiler had two for the winners while Cal Davis, Nolan Gardiner, Jesse Barwell and Bobby Harrison added singles.
The Canucks now face a monumental challenge to get back into the series. Game 4 is Monday in Niagara Falls.
“It’s not over. We still have a chance and we have to show up Monday night,” Pietrangelo said. “We have to get one and then go from there.
“We can only worry about one game at a time. It has to be about getting the first one Monday. We know it’s a big hole. We’re not naive to that, but it’s been done before. That’s the way you have to look at it.”
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