Falcons weekend round up
By Bernie Puchalski, St. Catharines Standard
Sunday, March 2, 2014 10:26:58 EST PM
ST. CATHARINES - The St. Catharines Falcons continued their playoff mastery over the Fort Erie Meteors Saturday with a 6-0 road win in Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League Golden Horseshoe Conference quarter-final action.
St. Catharines has outscored the Meteors 15-0 in the series and takes a 2-0 lead into Game 3 of the best-of-seven series Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. at the Jack Gatecliff Arena.
“It’s playoff hockey. And defence, in our opinion, wins championships,” Falcons coach Frank Girhiny said. “The players have been playing great in all areas of the ice and we have been really focused on playing well without the puck.”
Saturday’s game was almost a carbon copy of Friday’s match.
“We’re not giving up a whole lot, and because we are playing so well defensively we’re getting a lot more puck possession and we’re creating a lot more offence,” Girhiny said.
“The first two games have been pretty much perfect games.”
The Falcons escaped the weekend without any injuries, although the team will lose Nigel Slade for two games after he was assessed a two-game suspension for checking from behind, a call Girhiny felt was questionable.
St. Catharines and other teams with Sutherland Cup aspirations will keep the pedal to the metal with a new playoff format, where winning percentage can land a team the wildcard berth in the Sutherland Cup round-robin.
“We’re not even thinking about that,” Girhiny said.
“We’re playing to win every game, and considering what we went through the last week, the boys have persevered and are playing with a chip on their shoulder.”
Leading the offence for the Falcons Saturday were Tommy Barszcz with a hat trick and an assist; Brennan Feasey, three helpers; Greg Jambrosich, goal and assist; Kyle Woodhouse and Ryan Doucette, two helpers; and Aaron Taylor and Tyler Jackson each with a goal.
St. Catharines outshot Fort Erie 29-18 in the game with Knick Dawe recording the shutout for the Falcons.
The Falcons are back in action Tuesday, March 4th, when they host the Fort Erie Meteors in Game #3 of the quarterfinal series. Game time inside the Jack is 730pm.
