Falcons rally past Siskins
Treyson Dewar was on a mission Friday night.
The 18-year-old forward netted the winning goal and also added an assist as the St. Catharines Rankin Construction Falcons topped the Kitchener-Waterloo Siskins 3-1 in Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League action at the Seymour-Hannah Sports Complex.
The victory was the fifth straight for the Falcons who improved to 28-10-1-1 and moved past the Fort Erie Meteors by one point into second place. The Mets dropped a 3-2 decision at St. Thomas Friday.
Dewar’s winner came with seven minutes remaining in the third and was a thing of beauty as he used his speed and muscle to out-hustle a Waterloo defeneman and beat Siskins goaltender Nolan Chartrand with a quick wrist shot.
“I got the puck off my foot and saw it was a one-on-one race and I knew I have the speed to beat almost anyone in this league. I got to the puck, put some muscle on it, and turned around and fired it,” Dewar said.
St. Catharines general manager/coach Tyler Bielby loved Dewar’s determination on the goal.
“The whole arena saw a great shot from a great player, but the real hockey people in the stands and everywhere would have seen a determined young man,” Bielby said. “They would have saw a guy win the foot race, win the shoulder battle, get his position and get the puck through.
“We just talked about it after the game. We were very impressed with Trey and the way every day he brings his best effort and you couldn’t ask for a better kid.”
Dewar has been skating recently on a line with captain Caleb Thompson and veteran Zach Mambella.
“He had some chemistry with Tommer (Thompson) earlier in the year so when we decided to break up Thompson and (Tyler) Hunt and (Brendan) Andersen and sprinkle them in within the lineup, Dewar was the perfect fit to play with the captain and he’s had some success.”
Following a scoreless first period, the Siskins got on the board with a short-handed goal late in the second. St. Catharines quickly responded early in the third to tie the game before Dewar netted the winner. Thompson then added an insurance marker on the power play with three minutes to play.
Overall it was a fast paced, well played, entertaining game.
“Playoff hockey right from the jump,” Dewar said. “The boys went down early but we tried not to get discouraged and follow the team systems. The coach kept harping on us to go with that forecheck and we did that and obviously it worked out.”
Bielby loved the competition with the playoffs on the horizon.
“We stuck to our game plan for three periods, all the way up from Hayden (Jeffery) in goal,” Bielby said. “We had an interesting game against Caledonia where it was goal for goal and the last shot was going to win and we did a good job to be the last one standing.
“Coming into the game tonight against a tough opponent, these close games are good experiences for our guys.”
The Falcons are in Brantford Saturday to conclude inter-conference play for the regular season.
“The biggest focus is to always be prepared to play our game,” Bielby said. “Coach Matt Miller did a great job of reviewing some video on them and got a sense of their power play, and as a result, our penalty kill was really good. Hats off to coach Matt.”
Falcon facts: Mitchell Dmytrow, Trent Vallancourt, Jordan Marconi and Marcus Harris were scratched for the Falcons . . . Kai Rebuke, Isaac Blum, Harrison MacCallum, Angelo Protopapas and Trey Caracciolo did not dress for the Siskins.
STATS PACK
Falcons 3 Siskins 1
St. Catharines forward Treyson Dewar with a goal and assist.
St. Catharines Rankin Construction Falcons: Caleb Thompson (24); Treyson Dewar (17); Matthew Hlacar (11).
Kitchener-Waterloo Siskins: Jake DaSilva (18).
Game stats: Shots on goal: By St. Catharines on Nolan Chartrand (34), by K-W on Hayden Jeffery (33); Power plays: St. Catharines 2/7, K-W 0/4; Penalty minutes: St. Catharines 8, K-W 14.
Attendance: 481.
Up next: The Falcons are in Brantford Saturday at 5 p.m. and back home next Friday against Port Colborne.
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