Corvairs edge Meteors to take series lead
Three games into the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League, Golden Horseshoe Conference final series and it has become apparent there is very little to choose from between the Caledonia Corvairs and the Fort Erie Meteors.
The Corvairs edged the Meteors 2-1 Sunday night on home ice to take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series. All three games in the series have been decided by one goal. Fort Erie took the opener 3-2 Wednesday before the Corvairs won Game 2 3-2 at Fort Erie Saturday.
“Today it was puck luck for sure,” Fort Erie general/manager coach Nik Passero said. “Their first two goals kind of bounced off guys and landed on their sticks in open nets and we didn’t get those bounces. That’s the key we’re going to take into Game 4, keep working hard and getting the pucks to the front of the net and we’ll find a way to score.”
The Corvairs got off to a quick start when Markus Dempewolf scored just 53 seconds into the game. Dempewolf followed it up with another goal later in the period before Blake Hall netted his third of the playoffs at 17:12 of the first period to pull the Meteors to within one.
That was it for the scoring, but not for a lack of effort, Passero said.
“They got out to a lead early and then I thought we took it to them in the first. The second period was probably our best period of the year, we just couldn’t find the back of the net. We had probably 10 or 11 scoring chances. Really loved our effort. In third period we took it to them. They were on their heels, just couldn’t score.”
Passero loved his team’s resiliency.
“This group, nothing fazes them,” he said. “We go down 2-0 five minutes in and we were the better team for the next 55 minutes. We were losing guys left and right, little injuries and playoff stuff, and it was next man up. We just kept going and going. We ran into a hot goalie today and that’s alright.”
Finn Wilson made 25 saves in net for the Corvairs while Charlie Burns faced 47 shots between the pipes for the Mets.
Game 4 is Wednesday in Fort Erie with Game 5 back in Caledonia Thursday.
“They’re pretty much all must wins but down 2-1 going back home in front of 2,000 people these guys deserve a great effort and I know they’ll bring it,” Passero said.
Dear reader. If you liked this story or one of the 5,900 other stories found on our website, please consider hitting the Support Us button on the right-hand side of our home page and making a PayPal contribution to our website. Your support would be much appreciated. If you are a business owner, please consider advertising on our site. Our rates are reasonable and we provide plenty of exposure for your business. Contact bpotrecz@outlook.com for more information.
