Weekend junior B roundup: Blackhawks, Falcons, Mets win twice
It was a good weekend for the Thorold Blackhawks.
The Blackhawks inched closer to the .500 mark, blanking the Niagara Falls Canucks 4-0 Friday before edging the Hamilton Kilty B’s 6-5 in overtime Saturday at the Vale Centre in Port Colborne.
The Blackhawks have now won four straight and are 5-8 after winning just one of their first nine games. They are tied in points with the Canucks for fifth place. The Canucks own one game in hand.
“We’ve been playing real good hockey, we just haven’t been getting any wins,” Blackhawks coach/general manager Scott Barnes said. “We were rewarded the last couple of games. Early on we weren’t getting any bounces. Even when we were 1-8 the numbers didn’t add up.”
Barnes said the team didn’t let the tough luck get them down.
“The boys didn’t stop playing,” he said. “We’re proud of that. The guys could have easily went the other way and the season could have gone by the wayside. It’s big for us to climb back up and get into the thick of things.”
Saturday, Isayah Luddington netted the winner 3:14 into overtime.
Red-hot rookie Daniel Vasic, newcomer Jagger North, Wyatt Gibson, Grayson Gare and Brendan Grenville added singles.
Christian Lynch made 37 saves for the win.
Connor Haynes paced Hamilton with two goals and two assists while Zach Ladd, Dawson McKinney and Nathan Phillips added singles.
The win came on the heels of a 32-save shutout performance the previous night by Lynch in Niagara Falls.
“Lynch has had some really good games for us lately,” Barnes said. “Take the ball and run with it is what we’ve been telling him.”
Luddington, Vasic, Gare and Dylan Pergantile scored for the Hawks.
SATURDAY
Falcons 2 Corvairs 1
Josh Johnson kicked out 33 shots as the St. Catharines Falcons made it two wins over the Caledonia Corvairs in as many nights Saturday at the Haldimand Centre.
Nate Shirton and Cam Knight put the Falcons up 2-0 before Clark Dunford replied for the Corvairs at the 14:51 mark of the second.
Meteors 6 Panthers 1
Six players hit the scoresheet as the Fort Erie Meteors took care of business versus the Pelham Panthers Saturday at the Leisureplex.
Kyle Adamo, Jayden Baldinelli, Sam Barrett, Marcus Regina, Henry Vest and Nolan Stickland scored for Fort Erie.
Rookie Robbie Denham netted his first junior B goal for the Panthers.
Nolan Lane made 26 saves for the win.
Andrew Welch faced 56 shots in goal for the Panthers.
SUNDAY
Falcons 4 Panthers 0
The Falcons made it three wins in three games, blanking the Panthers Sunday afternoon in Pelham.
“Great weekend for the team and a solid six points from the three games played,” Falcons coach Tyler Bielby said. “I thought they competed all weekend and were rewarded for that hard work. It’s still early in the season and we have a lot to work on, but if they keep taking pride in keeping the puck out of the net, the team will continue to be successful.
“Very happy with our penalty killing as well. We won the special teams matchups all weekend and that played a big role in obtaining the six points.”
Kyle Glenney paced the winners with two goals while Jordan Schanbacher and Knight added singles.
Rookie Stephen Toltl made 22 saves for his third shutout of the season.
“Very happy with our goalies over the weekend,” Bielby added. “They stood in there and gave us a chance to win all three nights. Ryan Ludzik (goaltending coach) has been working closely with them and you could see that in their play this weekend.”
Bielby was also pleased with his defencemen.
“The six of them played a great defensive game and didn’t give our opponents much. Tip my cap to (Colin) Ewing and (Lucas) Tuin, or Ewy and Tewy as we call them. We feel they took a big step this weekend as a pairing. We challenge them to continue getting better every night.”
Keegan Jackson was busy in goal for the Panthers, making 50 saves in a losing effort.
“Once again we played St. Catharines extremely well,” Pelham owner/general manager Tim Toffolo said. “We have to be really happy with the results even though it’s a 4-0 loss. Our rookies basically played against St. Catharines and held them at bay for quite a while. We had seven regulars out of the lineup so our rookies played great. They stuck to their guns. Kudos to all of our young guys for playing a great game.”
Meteors 6 Junior Canadians 1
The Mets jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first period en route to a solid win over the Junior Canadians Sunday night in Welland.
Matthew Herb, Thomas Gualtieri, Jeremiah Rausch, Doug Doren, Regina and Brad Ditillio scored for Fort Erie.
Cody Inness netted the lone Welland goal.
Josh Smith made 27 saves to pick up the win.
THIS WEEK
MONDAY
Caledonia at Hamilton, 7 p.m.
THURSDAY
Pelham at Hamilton, 7 p.m.
FRIDAY
Fort Erie at St. Catharines, 7 p.m.
Caledonia at Niagara Falls, 7 p.m.
Welland at Thorold, 7:30 p.m.
SATURDAY
Hamilton at Fort Erie, 7 p.m.
St. Catharines at Thorold, 7:30 p.m.
Welland at Caledonia, 7:30 p.m.
SUNDAY
Caledonia at Pelham, 2:45 p.m.
Niagara Falls at Welland, 7 p.m.
Click here for standings https://www.gojhl.ca/stats/standings
Dear reader. If you liked this story or one of the 4,500 other stories found on our website, please consider hitting the Support Us button on the right-hand side of our home page and making a PayPal contribution to our website. Your support would be much appreciated. If you are a business owner, please consider advertising on our site. Our rates are reasonable and we provide plenty of exposure for your business. Contact bpotrecz@outlook.com for more information.
