Sailors/Falcons fight to tie
By St. Catharines Falcons Staff
November 16, 2007
The Port Colborne Sailors travelled to Jack Gatecliff Arena
in St. Catharines Friday night to fight the Falcons for sole
possession of fourth place overall in the standings. The
season series between the two teams was tied one win a piece
going into Friday night's match.
The first period proved uneventful as neither team could
produce any points on the scoreboard during the first 20
minutes of play.
A total of four penalties were called in the first; three
against the Sailors (holding, interference, high-sticking)
and one against the Falcons (tripping). St. Catharines led
in shots on net 15-4 over Port Colborne to end the first
period.
St. Catharines opened the scoring in the second period
with a power-play marker from Adam Moroney 1:50 into the
period. Stephen Ceccanese and Chris Stevenson assisted on
the first goal of the game that beat Sailors goalie Brendan
Sullivan.
Port Colborne bounced back almost immediately, tying the
game 1-1 at the 4:17 minute mark of the period. Tanner
McGowan scored for the Sailors, his 10th of the season,
against Falcons goaltender Steele De Fazio, with assists
going to Sean Roche and Dan Minor.
The Falcons jumped out to a 3-1 lead after Port's goal,
with scores from Ryan Elbers (Ziraldo, Stevenson) and Chris
Stevenson (Ziraldo, Elbers), both even-strength at 12:48 and
15:21, respectively.
The teams hit the dressing rooms after the second period
with the Falcons leading 3-1 over the Sailors, as well as
14-9 in shots on net.
Port Colborne came to within one goal of the Falcons lead
with a third period marker 3:07 into the final 20 minutes of
regulation play. Eric Tardif scored to make the score 3-2,
with assists to Tyler Tanguay and Adam Shoff.
But the Falcons jumped two ahead of the Sailors just
seconds before the half way point of the period, with a goal
from forward Stephen Ceccanese at 9:37. Brad Jackson and
Brandon McGregor helped on the insurance goal.
The Sailors weren't ready to pack up just yet as they
came to within one goal, scoring less than a minute after
Ceccanese's goal. Curtis Longland, from Brad Borgatti, cut
the Falcons lead to 4-3 with just 8:42 left to play in the
period.
Port Colborne tied the game 4-4 at the 14:51 mark of the
third period to the disbelief of many Falcons fans. Tanner
McGowan scored his second goal of the night with an assist
from Dan Minor and Sean Roche. The goal turned out to be
huge for the Sailors as the game was forced into overtime
after 60 minutes of play.
Falcons netminder Steele De Fazio was called for a delay
of game infraction with 48 seconds left to play in the
overtime period after leaving his crease and covering up the
puck.
The first game going into extra time this season inside
Jack Gatecliff Arena proved fruitless for the Falcons as the
game ended in a tie after five minutes of 4-on-4 overtime
play, and both teams finished the game taking home a point
each.
Your Mountainview Homes Falcons travel to Port Colborne
Saturday night to finish their back-to-back series against
the Sailors. Game time at West Side Arena is 7:30pm.
The Falcons play their next home game on a rare Tuesday
night inside Jack Gatecliff Arena. The Niagara Falls Canucks
visit the Falcons on Tuesday, November 20th with the puck
dropping early at 7:00pm. |