The St. Catharines Novice A Falcons welcomed the Dunnville Mudcats to Seymour-Hannah for game two of the Niagara District Group B Playoffs last Friday night. The Mudcats had won the previous three meetings between the two clubs but the Falcons were not to be denied on this night, as they'd come through with an impressive 4-2 victory, the team's second win in a row!
The Falcons showed they meant business right from the opening whistle, as they'd storm down the ice and score only 15 seconds into the contest, with Ben Grohnwald turning around in the slot and firing one through the Dunnville keeper's legs for the 1-0 lead! Justin Flora and Dante DiFranco picked up the assists.
Dunnville scored with a little over three minutes remaining in the period and the first would end with the teams tied at one, with the Falcons outshooting the Mudcats 6-3 in the period.
The hometown Falcons would regain the lead about halfway through the period. The puck was brought into the slot by Evan Bosela and both he and Justin Flora started banging away at it, with Flora ultimately putting the puck past the goaltender and into the net!
Incredibly, only EIGHT seconds later, the same two players would team up again for the quickfire double! Evan Bosela won the ensuing faceoff right over to Justin Flora and he took the puck the length of the ice and ripped a wrist shot right into the top corner of the net to give the Falcons a two goal cushion heading into the third. Shots after two periods favoured St. Catharines 12-7.
The third period saw the Falcons continue their domination territorially and on the shot clock but they just couldn't solve the Dunnville keeper. With just over four minutes left in the game, the Mudcats would score to pull to within one, setting up a tense finish.
Dunnville would pull their goaltender in the final minute in an attempt to tie the game but some incredible board play by Sammy Evangelista saw him dig the puck out and fire it towards goal, with Evan Bosela finishing the play off by scoring into the empty net to salt away the 4-2 victory!
Goaltender Quinton Burkley once again stood tall, turning aside nine of Dunnville's eleven shots and the Falcons would outshoot the Mudcats 22-11 overall.
The Falcons move to 2-0-0 in the Niagara District B Playoffs and sit in first place in the six-team division, with their next contest on Friday night in West Lincoln.
GO FALCONS!!
SCORING SUMMARY -
GOALS: Justin Flora (2), Ben Grohnwald, Evan Bosela
ASSISTS: Evan Bosela (2), Justin Flora, Dante DiFranco, Sammy Evangelista