Falcons advance to finals
The St. Catharines Falcons rebounded from a difficult loss Friday to defeat the Hamilton Kilty B’s 4-0 Sunday.
The Falcons, coming off a tough 2-1 loss in triple overtime on home ice, turned in one of their best performances of the playoffs to take the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League, Golden Horseshoe Conference best-of-seven semifinal 4-2.
The Falcons now take on the Niagara Falls Canucks in a best-of-seven final beginning Friday in Niagara Falls.
“We allowed them to be upset, they had their 30-second funeral, and they were really mature about it,” Falcons assistant coach Rick Girhiny said. “They came out and we’re ready to take it tonight.”
Girhiny was behind the bench in place of Falcons head coach/general manager Frank Girhiny, who was serving the second and final game of his suspension for an on-ice incident following Game 4.
Christian Girhiny set the tone early when he scored just 23 seconds into the game.
The Falcons added to their lead with a goal from rookie Dawson McKinney in the second period, then put the game away with two more in the third by Jacob Roach and Tanner Main.
Noah Battaglia made 28 saves to earn the shutout.
“Everybody was committed to doing a lot of the small things right,” Rick Girhiny said. “Bats (Battaglia) was really good again. He was on his game and they fed off that.”
The Falcons killed off five Hamilton power plays while scoring once with the man advantage in three opportunities.
“We penalty killed well and played hard,” Rick Girhiny said. “Everyone was committed to the win.”
The Falcons don’t feel the series will affect them with four days off before the final begins.
“We’ll be ready to play on Friday. The guys are all in good shape,” Rick Girhiny said.
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