Falcons face Maroons in final
The St. Catharines Falcons are two wins from the promised land.
The Falcons edged the Cambridge Redhawks 3-2 Wednesday night at the Hespeler Memorial Arena to finish in first place in the round-robin portion of the Sutherland Cup playoffs with a 3-1 record.
The Falcons now square off versus the Chatham Maroons in a best-of-three final for the Sutherland Cup, emblematic of junior B hockey supremacy in Ontario.
Game 1 is Friday at Jack Gatecliff Arena while Game 2 will be in Chatham Sunday, time to be announced. Game 3, if necessary, would be Tuesday, May 31 in St. Catharines.
“To be able to go out on the road, and in particular to be able to get that first goal of the game, was important and set the tone,” Falcons coach Tyler Bielby said. “We wanted to make sure we were going into the finals with home ice advantage because we won out, not based on a tie-breaker, so I’m really happy for the boys to get it done the right way.”
The Falcons rebounded from a 4-3 overtime loss to the Redhawks Tuesday.
“Playing on bigger ice I thought we were a little lost in the first period but we started to settle in on that ice in the second and just really grind it out,” Bielby said. “It was a team win. There was nothing pretty about it and we did a great job on the penalty kill.”
Andrew MacLean made 22 saves to earn the win.
“He was everything that has been talked about all year,” Bielby said. “He really settled us down and helped kill a big five-on-three in the second period that ended up being the difference.”
The Maroons finished the round-robin with a 2-2 record — both losses were to the Falcons —while the Redhawks placed third at 1-3.
“I think you look that Cambridge gave us a couple of great games and beat us in one of them and Chatham was able to beat them,” Bielby said. “We’ve learned that the teams at this stage are here for a reason.
“If we think we’ve seen Chatham at their best, we’re mistaken. We’re going to see their best hockey this weekend.”
Game 1 will be the final Friday night game at Jack Gatecliff Arena which is to be torn down following the season.
STATS PACK
Falcons 3 Redhawks 2
St. Catharines goaltender Andrew MacLean
St. Catharines Falcons: Sam Williamson (7); Jonah Boria (6); Kyle Glenney (4).
Cambridge Redhawks: Luke Bibby (11); Michael McKnight (3).
Game stats: Shots on goal: By St. Catharines on Tanner Wickware (20), by Cambridge on Andrew MacLean (24); Power plays: St. Catharines 1/5, Cambridge 0/5; Penalty minutes St. Catharines (10), Cambridge (20).
Attendance: 526
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