Weekend junior B roundup: Falcons top Corvairs; Blackhawks split
The St. Catharines Falcons edged the Caledonia Corvairs 4-3 in overtime Saturday. The teams meet again Friday in St. Catharines. File photo: BILL POTRECZ.
The St. Catharines Falcons quickly turned the page following a tough loss Friday night to defeat the Caledonia Corvairs 4-3 in overtime Saturday at the Haldimand Centre.
The Falcons lead the Corvairs by five points for second place in the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League, Golden Horseshoe Conference standings.
“Great effort by the team to go into Caledonia and get the win,” Falcons coach Tyler Bielby said. “Coming off a big game Friday we stressed the importance of a quick start, but unfortunately got down 2-0 early.
“We have some great character in our dressing room and that presented itself and was on display in the comeback win. The team stuck to the game plan, got ourselves back in the game, and walked away with the two points.”
Ethan Doyle and Mitchell Brewer put the Corvairs up 2-0 three minutes into the game before Nicholas Rubino got one back for the Falcons to trail 2-1 after one.
Jordan Schanbacher and Rubino scored in the second to give St. Catharines a 3-2 lead after 40 minutes. Josh Russell tied the game for the Corvairs in the third to send the game into overtime.
Mason Howard netted the winner at the 4:34 mark when he finished off a nice rush started by Schanbacher in his own end.
Andrew MacLean made 28 saves for the win while Ethan Langevin kicked out 43 shots in a losing effort.
The Corvairs visit the Falcons Friday.
“It’s a great time of year for hockey,” Bielby said. “You could feel it in the arena. We look forward to a hard week of practice and welcoming Caledonia back to The Jack Friday.”
Meteors 3 Blackhawks 1
Josh Smith made 22 saves to pace the Fort Erie Meteors past the visiting Thorold Blackhawks Saturday night at the Leisureplex.
Noah Fortuna made 32 saves in net for the Blackhawks.
Marcus Regina, Michael Angrilli and Luke Gualtieri scored for the Mets.
Sam Tonelli replied for the Hawks.
SUNDAY
Hawks 3 Panthers 1
The Blackhawks rebounded from Saturday night’s loss with a 3-1 win at Pelham Sunday afternoon.
Rookie call-up Callum Cheynowski scored two goals for the Hawks while Aiden Cupelli added one.
Florian Xhekaj netted Pelham’s goal.
Fortuna came up big with a 40-save performance for Thorold.
Josh Burbidge made 36 saves for the struggling Panthers, who have dropped 10 in a row.
Junior Canadians 4 Canucks 1
Nico Balice kicked out 26 shots as the Welland Junior Canadians topped the visiting Niagara Falls Canucks Sunday night at the Welland Arena.
Ethan Sharpe, Patrick Cole, Peter Spameni and Conner Thompson-Dick scored for Welland.
Michael Santini replied for the Falls.
Riley George made 36 saves in a losing effort.
THIS WEEK
MONDAY
Caledonia at Thorold, 7 p.m.
WEDNESDAY
Caledonia at Fort Erie, 7 p.m.
THURSDAY
Welland at Thorold, 7 p.m.
Niagara Falls at Hamilton, 7:30 p.m.
FRIDAY
Welland at Pelham, 6:45 p.m.
Caledonia at St. Catharines, 7 p.m.
Fort Erie at Niagara Falls, 7 p.m.
SATURDAY
Pelham at Fort Erie, 7:15 p.m.
Hamilton at Caledonia, 7:30 p.m.
SUNDAY
Hamilton at Pelham, 2:45 p.m.
Niagara Falls at Welland, 7:05 p.m.
STANDINGS
1. Hamilton 34-7-1-69
2. St. Catharines 32-8-1-1-66
3. Caledonia 29-8-2-1-61
4. Fort Erie 20-19-0-1-41
5. Welland 16-23-35
6. Thorold 14-28-28
7. Pelham 12-27-2-26
8. Niagara Falls 4-33-3-1
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