Falcons rally past Meteors
The St. Catharines Falcons were in desperate need of a spark and it was Curtis Egert who finally lit the flame.
The 20-year-old Welland native fired a pair of goals, including the game winner late in the third, as the Falcons defeated the Fort Erie Meteors 5-2 in a Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League, Golden Horseshoe Conference game Friday night at Jack Gatecliff Arena.
Egert’s goal came with 1:49 remaining and broke a 2-2 tie.
“It doesn’t matter who it is, it doesn’t even need to be a veteran,” Egert said, when asked about the need for someone to step up with the game on the line. “All the guys work hard — we always do — and to have one guy stand out is always a bonus.”
Egert, who now has 19 goals, netted the winner on a perfect one-timer from the slot. The Falcons then followed that up with another goal 40 seconds later and a final marker into the empty net.
“I can’t say enough (about Egert),” Falcons coach Tyler Bielby said. “Whether it’s his character, or the way he plays the game, or just his passion, he wears his heart on his sleeve.
“I’ll take 20 Curtis Egert’s any day of the week.”
Egert, who has more than 100 games of Ontario Hockey League experience with the Sarnia Sting, is well aware the Falcons were far from their best Friday.
“We tend to go down to and play at other team’s levels,” he said. “We obviously shouldn’t be like that but I think that’s what happened. We came out too slow and we didn’t get off our feet.”
Egert said effort isn’t an issue in practice, but that work ethic doesn’t always translate into games.
“The coach stresses it so much that we don’t coast and we don’t glide,” he said. “We have to keep pushing. It all starts in practice. You have to work hard and all the guys are going all the time which is great to see. You can’t ask for much more.”
Bielby will take the two points, but knows his team has much more to offer.
“I’m not happy with our overall game,” he said. “All the credit to Fort Erie. They never took a shift off and kept bringing it to us.
“We have to be better at this time of year. It’s Christmas time and it’s a good measuring stick. I’ll take some comfort in this team finds ways to win those close games in the third period. They have done that all year.”
Fort Erie coach Rob Hubbert, who has seen his team win just four games to date, didn’t seem to take much solace his team’s effort.
“You got to start winning some games,” Hubbert said. “You have your best players on the ice and your best players have to get it done and we didn’t get it done.”
Hubbert then couldn’t resist taking shot at the officiating.
“I just want to know the consistency. From the beginning of the year, you weren’t allowed to talk to the referees on a two-minute minor, but then I watched the referee skate over to their head coach and talk to him for 24 seconds. I timed it.
“I’ve been in this game 30 years and all I ask is consistency.”
Falcon facts: Carson Edwardson, Trent Glenney and Kylar Watson did not dress for the Falcons . . . Philip DeCresce and Riley Benevento were scratched for the Meteors . . . In the other game Friday, the Niagara Falls Canucks topped the Welland Junior Canadians 8-3 at the Gale Centre.
Falcons 5 Meteors 2
BPSN Star of the Game: St. Catharines captain Curtis Egert with a pair of goals, including the game winner.
St. Catharines Falcons: Egert 2 (18, 19); Xavier Drummond (15); Nick Volpatti (14); Michael Santini (3).
Fort Erie Meteors: Riley Sutherland 2 (10, 11).
Game stats: Shots on goal: By St. Catharines on Dalton McBride (29), by Fort Erie on Ethan Cook (25); Power plays: St. Catharines 0-for-4, Fort Erie 1-for-6; Penalty minutes: St. Catharines 12, Fort Erie 8.
Attendance: 403.
Up next: St. Catharines visits Caledonia Saturday.
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