07-Mar-2006 · 9:50pm

The Fort Erie Meteors desperately looked for a win Tuesday night as they skated into St. Catharines to face the Falcons in Game #3 of their best-of-seven quarter final series.

The Meteors jumped out to a 2 goal lead against the Falcons early in the first period. Dan Coates and Joe Burns both put shots past Falcons netminder Sean Hall at 6:03 and 9:16, respectively.

Nick Chambers was awarded a penalty shot at the 14:12 mark of the first period, after being taken down by a Falcons defenseman, though Chambers managed to get the shot of regardless. Chambers beat Hall to give the Meteors a 3-0 lead, going upstairs on the Falcons goaltender.

With Nick Petriello in the penalty box serving a four minute high-sticking infraction, Steve Walters added to the Falcons grief by giving Fort Erie a 4-0 lead at 14:34. Rodney Inglis and Dan Coates assisted on the power play goal.

GOALS BY PERIOD
TEAM	1ST	2ND	3RD	TOTAL
	4	0	1	5
	1	0	1	2

The Falcons finally broke open the score at the 19:06 mark after Danny Ziraldo beat Meteors goaltender Marcus Menard with his first goal of the postseason. Mike Dahms and Andrew Kilcar notched assists on the goal.

The second period was definitely quieter than the first period, except in the Fort Erie penalty box. St. Catharines was even given a 2-man advantage half way through the period, but couldn't find the back of the Meteors net.

St. Catharines came to life in the third period when Falcons forward Nick Petriello notched his third goal of the postseason at 4:46 of the third period. Jordan Nolan assisted on the play to cut Fort Erie's lead to 4-2.

That was all the effort St. Catharines could put up against the Meteors Tuesday night. The Falcons pulled their goalie only to take a head-checking penalty at 17:28 and drive the final nail into the coffin in front of 385 fans. Fort Erie's Mie Kusy added an empty-net goal at 19:33.

Fort Erie's goaltender Marcus Menard turned away 40 shots for the first star of the game, while Sean Hall disappointedly allowed 4 goals on 28 shots.

The series moves to Fort Erie Wednesday night, when the Meteors host the Falcons at the Leisureplex for Game #4. The puck drops at 7:45pm.

Game #5 takes place this Friday, March 10th, at the Jack Gatecliff Arena in St. Catharines. Game time is 7:30pm. Come early to get a good seat, but you'll only need the edge!

#	DATE	RECENT FALCONS MATCH-UPS	SCORE
P1	03-Mar-2006	GAME 1: FORT ERIE @ ST CATHARINES	6 - 1 W
P2	04-Mar-2006	GAME 2: ST CATHARINES @ FORT ERIE	4 - 3 W
P3	07-Mar-2006	GAME 3: FORT ERIE @ ST CATHARINES	5 - 2 L