Kilty B’s edge Falcons in overtime
The St. Catharines Falcons missed a golden opportunity to kick the Hamilton Kilty B’s when they were down.
The Falcons squandered a 3-1 lead and dropped a 4-3 overtime decision Tuesday night at Jack Gatecliff Arena.
The Falcons still lead the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League, Golden Horseshoe Conference best-of-seven quarter-final playoff series 2-1, but a win would have given them a commanding 3-0 series lead.
“No way we thought we were going to sweep them,” Falcons coach/general manager Frank Girhiny said.
The Falcons dominated the first two games of the series winning 5-1 and 8-2, but Girhiny said the coaching staff cautioned the team before the game the Kilty B’s would not go down without a fight.
“It had to be their best game of the year and it had to be our best game of the year,” Girhiny said. “They played with desperation.
“Give them credit. They came out hard and we did not answer. It was a well-deserved win by Hamilton.”
The Falcons must now find a way to bounce back in Game 4 Thursday in Hamilton or the series could be back to square one.
“We’ve had good success over the last little while and we have to get back to that,” Girhiny said. “We didn’t do that very well today.
“We looked like the tired team tonight. I thought we would be the fresher team the way we roll four lines but we looked tired.”
The Falcons once again took an early lead when Jacob Roach potted his third of the post-season just over eight minutes in. The Kilty B’s quickly responded less than a minute later. The Falcons hit two crossbars and a post in the period.
Roach set up Kyle West for a tap in to give the Falcons a 3-1 lead before Mark Duarte scored with the man advantage to narrow the gap to 3-2 after two.
The Kilty B’s scored the lone goal of the third just 13 seconds into the period when Anthony Costantini deflected a shot from the point.
“The tying goal was a curve ball,” Girhiny said. “It started at one post and ended at the other. I’ve never seen anything like it in my years of coaching, but that’s what happens. They made their breaks.”
The Kilty B’s won it when Luke Croucher pounced on an errant giveaway by Adam Pys and netted the winner seven minutes into the extra period.
Falcon facts: Jack Venneri, Noah Blakely and Dawson McKinney did not dress for the Falcons . . . Kris Black, Noah Bollert, Lucas Thompson, Chris Ishmael and Jordan Simpson were scratched for the Kilty B’s . . . Former Falcons coach and current Erie Otters assistant coach Wes Wolfe was in attendance.
Kilty B’s 4 Falcons 3 OT
BPSN Star of the Game: Hamilton forward Luke Croucher with the winner in OT.
St. Catharines Falcons: Jacob Roach 2 (3, 4); Kyle West (4).
Hamilton Kilty B’s: Croucher (4); Mark Shannon (2); Mark Duarte (2); Anthony Costantini (1).
Game stats: Shots on goal: By St. Catharines on Marco Constantini (35), by Hamilton on Noah Battaglia (32); Power plays: St. Catharines 2-for-7, Hamilton 1-for-6; Penalty minutes: St. Catharines 22, Hamilton 24.
Attendance: 569
Up next: Game 4 Thursday in Hamilton. Game 5 Friday in St. Catharines.
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