Falcons get back on track
The St. Catharines Falcons shook things up a bit Friday night and came away with a 4-1 victory over the Welland Junior Canadians in Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League action at the Seymour-Hannah Sports Complex.
The loss put the brakes on a three-game losing streak for the Falcons, their second such downward trend of the season.
“We mixed up the medicine a bit,” St. Catharines assistant coach Matt Miller said. “We switched up some of our lines and had some different looks trying to have some chemistry and we felt we had scoring from different lines tonight so it paid off.
“Just a different feel-good attitude coming to the rink. When you’re losing games it’s not fun coming to the rink and we have to get back to loving coming to the rink.”
One of the beneficiaries of the lineup shuffle was veteran winger Zach Mambella, who produced a goal and an assist skating alongside captain Caleb Thompson and Treyson Dewar.
“It’s amazing, they make it easy for you,” said Mambella, a 20-year-old St. Catharines native. “It’s been tough being down there for a bit but it’s good to get back up and play my game.”
Miller loved Mambella’s game.
“Unbelievable,” Miller said. “He’s a glue guy for us and we know the skill he has. We’ve had our eyes on him a long time. We’ve played against him. He’s a vet in this league and he’s been battling injuries so it’s huge for him to get the jump up in the lineup and to produce for us. It got the boys going.”
Mambella played for the Niagara Falls Canucks two years ago before suiting up for Grimsby at the junior C level last year. He joined the Falcons this year with one goal in mind.
“This year we’re all going for a Sutherland (Cup). We have eight over-agers and we all want the same thing. I don’t care where I play, I’m going to do the same thing every night.”
The Falcons dropped a 3-0 decision in Hamilton Thursday and Mambella recognized the importance of getting back on track against a hard-working Welland squad.
“It’s huge. It’s tough going through little streaks like that but honestly, every winning team needs to go through some adversity at some point and it’s good to get it out of us now,” he said. “We want to hit the playoffs running.”
Miller, too, felt it imperative to end the losing streak.
“Good teams find a way to get out of it sooner than later,” he said. “You don’t want it to turn into a four- or five- or six-game streak. These are the dog days of the season. It’s January and we have a snowstorm outside. It’s tough to get to the rink and continue to find a way to win and compete and we found a way.”
The Falcons led 1-0 after one period before taking a 3-0 lead with a pair of late goals in the third.
Matthew Coates ruined Cal Gardner’s bid for his third shutout of the season at 17:58 before Tyler Hunt scored into an empty net with 50 seconds to play.
Falcon facts: Mitchell Dmytrow, Trent Vallancourt, Jordan Marconi and Marcus Harris were scratched for the Falcons . . . Adam Bignucolo, Jack Cranson and Ethan Labbe did not dress for the Junior Canadians . . . The Falcons honoured long time announcer and current volunteer Jack “The Phantom” Darling before the game.
Meteors 6 Sailors 0
John Lloyd needed to make only 12 saves as the Fort Erie Meteors blanked the Port Colborne Sailors Friday night at the Vale Centre.
Kyle Adamo, Chaka-Benjamin Ntumba-Muntu, Caleb Bidgood, Zach Mizzi, Rylan Masterson and Domenic DiFrancesco scored
STATS PACK
Falcons 4 Junior Canadians 1
St. Catharines forward Zack Mambella with two points.
St. Catharines Falcons: Caleb Thompson (21); Tyler Hunt (16); Noah Read (8); Zach Mambella (4).
Welland Junior Canadians: Matthew Coates (9).
Game stats: Shots on goal: By St. Catharines on Andrew Welch (44), by Welland on Hayden Jeffery (29); Power plays: St. Catharines 0/1, Welland 0/3; Penalty minutes: St. Catharines 10, Welland 6.
Attendance: 325.
Up next: The Falcons are in Pelham Sunday at 2:45 p.m. and back home next Friday against Port Colborne.
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