Area Sept. 24: Football roundup; Riverhawks win; Minor hockey results
The Welland major peewee A Tigers posted three shutout victories in six games to capture the St. Catharines Early Bird Tournament championship. Welland outscored their opponents 15-5 as they compiled a 5-0-1 record. Photo Special to BPSN.
It was a good thing Jacob Saddler showed up as the Niagara Riverhawks improved to 2-0 with a 5-4 overtime win over the Hagersville Hawks in Provincial Junior Hockey League action at the Gale Centre.
Saddler led the way for the Riverhawks, scoring four goals including the game winner in overtime.
The Riverhawks opened the scoring in the first period on a goal by Keith Palmer. Saddler gave the RiverHawks a 2-0 lead on the powerplay at 10:13 of the second period, but Hagersville cut the lead to 2-1 with a late goal with seven seconds remaining in the period.
Saddler scored his second of the game 31 seconds into the third to restore the two goal lead but Hagersville scored two goals in three minutes to tie the game at 3-3. Saddler then completed the hat trick on the powerplay at 10:11 to give the RiverHawks a 4-3 lead, but Hagersville again tied the game with less than five minutes remaining in the game to send the game to overtime.
Both teams exchanged scoring chances in the overtime before Saddler netted his fourth and the game winner at 3:31 on a sharp angle shot to give the Riverhawks the victory.
Head coach Tim Barath praised Saddler’s efforts.
“He’s not the fanciest guy out there, but he works hard and can put the puck in the net,” he said.
“I thought we got a little sloppy in the third giving up those leads, but I like how we battled back and pulled out the win.”
Hagersville outshot the Riverhawks 40-37 with Matt Boere making 36 saves in the win.
The RiverHawks return home Thursday when they host the Glanbrook Rangers at 7:30 p.m.
PEEWEES CAPTURE CHAMPIONSHIP
Brandon Alexander and Bryson Farr backstopped the Welland major peewee A Tigers to three shutout victories in six games to capture the St. Catharines Early Bird Tournament championship. Welland outscored their opponents 15-5 as they compiled a 5-0-1 record.
In the Tigers opening game they skated to a 3-3 tie with the Oakville Rangers on goals from Eli Moormann, Quinten Hemauer and Nicolas DiPietro. DiPietro would then score twice, including the game-winner with 5.7 seconds remaining, in a 2-1 win against the London Mustangs.
DiPietro and Carter Kipp provided the offence and Alexander earned the shutout in a 2-0 victory over the Hespeler Shamrocks. The Tigers then closed out the round-robin portion with by tripling the Innisfil Winterhawks 3-1 on tallies from Hemauer, Kipp and DiPietro.
Alexander would record his second shutout of the tournament in a 2-0 semifinal win over the host Falcons that saw DiPietro once again score twice.
Farr turned aside all shots against London in the championship final with Moormann netting the game-winning goal and Isaac Khan and DiPietro, with a last second empty-net goal, adding insurance.
TIGERS TAKE TITLE
The Welland Mike Knapp Ford novice A Tigers participated in the Garden City Early Bird Tournament and won the championship after a thrilling 3-1 win over Centre Wellington Fusion in the finals.
The Tigers put forth a strong effort in the four round-robin games finishing with a record of 3-1-0.
The Tigers won a thrilling semifinal game in sudden death overtime against Oakville Rangers, before taking home the title in a hard fought battle against Centre Wellington Fusion.
The Tigers began their tournament with a dominant 7-0 win over the Dundas Blues.
Liam Seguin and Ethan Rousseau had two goals each while Mackenzie Welychka, Dylan Wood and Noah Rousseau added singles.
Jackson MacLeod earned the shutout.
The Tigers followed that game up with a 12-0 win over Orillia.
Welychka and Jordan Hotham had three goals while Rousseau and Blake Hudak had two each. Seguin and Wood rounded out the scoring.
Brady Matte earned the shutout.
Welland then dropped a 5-3 decision to Centre Wellington Fusion.
Blake Hudak, Ethan Rousseau and Wood scored.
In the fourth game, the Tigers faced off against the Burlington Eagles. Both teams had a record of 2-1-0 and the winner of this game would claim second place in the division and a berth in the tournament semifinals.
The Tigers game out strong and managed to build a 3-0 lead. Wood, Rousseau and Seguin scored.
Welland then edged the Oakville Rangers 4-3 in overtime in a semifinal game. The Tigers managed to build a quick 3-0 lead after the first period before the Rangers rallied to tie the game in the third. The Tigers scored with just over a minute left in the overtime for the win.
Wood and Rousseau had two goals each.
The Tigers then topped Centre Wellington to take the tournament championship.
Welychka, Rousseau and Seguin scored.
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