Weekend junior B roundup: Sailors struggle; Mets win two; Falcons upset in Welland
Aiden Cupelli has hit his stride this season for the Port Colborne Sailors.
The 20-year-old Bowmanville native has already set a career high in goals (13) in just 22 games into his season and should easily surpass last year’s points total of 21.
“It is a classic case of a 20-year-old who is in his third year in the league, he should be producing,” Sailors assistant coach Chris Goulet said. “It takes a couple of years to figure it out for some kids.”
Cupelli is satisfied with his year to date.
“Obviously, my personal stats are a lot better than my previous years,” he said. “I started off hot and I’m looking to keep that going.”
Cupelli said there is no secret to his success.
“Just shooting the puck,” he said. “It’s as simple as that and not thinking as much.”
Cupelli said his father has always harped on him to get more pucks to the net.
“My dad was always big on me shooting growing up and this year he told me I better start shooting again,”
Cupelli has a history of being able to produce, collecting 23 goals and 34 points in 31 games for the Clarington Toros U18 AAA before making the jump to junior with the St. Catharines Falcons.
“He can put the puck in the net, he’s proven that before,” Goulet said.
Cupelli lost a season to COVID and then made the jump to the junior ranks in the 2021/22 season where he got off to a good start with the Falcons before being dealt to the Thorold Blackhawks in a package deal that saw St. Catharines net Nick Rubino and Mason Howard.
Goulet feels Cupelli has the skills to be a top notch forward.
“We’ve always been telling him use his feet, he can be one of the fastest players in the league if he consistently moves his feet,” Goulet said. “He can keep driving to the net and draw penalties like crazy and create offence and that’s what he’s doing this year. It’s nice to see.”
Goulet said Cupelli has been tougher around the net as well this season.
“You learn in junior hockey to bear down on your stick. As a rookie maybe you just tap it in whereas this year he’s putting that puck in with authority. He’s bearing down on the stick and shooting the puck well.
“The biggest thing is he’s figured out how to go hard.”
Cupelli, a third-year kinesiology student at Brock, isn’t sure what the future holds as far as hockey goes.
“We’ll see where the road takes us,” he said.
The Sailors have dropped four in a row, including a 9-3 defeat at Hamilton and an 11-1 loss at home last week to Caledonia to fall to 9-13-3.
“We have to have a good week of practice and get down to the nitty gritty and find our sense of identity again,” Cupelli said. “We have to get back to playing like we used to.”
SATURDAY
Meteors 5 Panthers 3
Five players hit the scoresheet as the Fort Erie Meteors topped the visiting Pelham Panthers at the Leisureplex.
Hunter Coley, Owen Penny, Blake Hall, Kyle Adamo and Rylan Masterson scored for the Mets while Liam Beamish chipped in with three assists.
Thomas Sefton, Cole Worsfold-Bonneville and Ryan Haeney replied for the Panthers.
John Lloyd made 23 saves for the win.
Corvairs 5 Junior Canadians 0
Davis Penner made 20 saves as the Caledonia Corvairs blanked the Welland Junior Canadians Saturday at the Haldimand Centre.
Jayden Lammel, Evan Bradacs, Noah Baltzer, Nathan Duplessis and Brayden Russell scored.
SUNDAY
Meteors 2 Panthers 1 SO
The Fort Erie Meteors swept their home-and-home series with the Panthers with their six straight victory Sunday afternoon in Pelham.
Blake Hall scored for Fort Erie and Max Schaubel for Pelham in regulation time.
Liam Beamish was the lone scorer in the shootout.
Charlie Burns made 30 saves for the win.
Carter Vincente turned away 50 shots in net and took the hard-luck loss.
Junior Canadians 5 Falcons 2
The Junior Canadians jumped out to a 4-0 lead en route to upsetting the visiting St. Catharines Falcons Sunday night in Welland.
Jack Ryan and Matthew Coates each had two for the winners while Cooper Reid added one.
Zach Mambella and Dallys Hibbert scored for the shorthanded Falcons, who dressed two under the limit due to a rash of injuries.
Andrew Welch made 35 saves for the win.
Cal Gardner got the start in goal for St. Catharines and permitted four goals on 18 shots before being replaced by Hayden Jeffery who kicked out 14 of 15 shots.
THIS WEEK
THURSDAY
Fort Erie at Hamilton, 7 p.m.
FRIDAY
Welland at St. Catharines, 7 p.m.
Pelham at Port Colborne, 7:30 p.m.
SATURDAY
St. Catharines at Fort Erie, 3:30 p.m.
Hamilton at Caledonia, 7:30 p.m.
SUNDAY
Caledonia at Pelham, 2:45 p.m.
Port Colborne at Welland, 7 p.m.
STANDINGS
1. Caledonia 22-3-0-1-45
2. Fort Erie 20-5-0-0-40
3. St. Catharines 17-6-0-1-35
4. Hamilton 10-13-3-0-23
5. Port Colborne 9-13-3-0-21
6. Pelham 8-16-0-1-17
7. Welland 5-18-2-0-12
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