Falcons take 1st with 8-2 win

01-Feb-2008 · 9:40pm

Stephen Ceccanese opened the scoring Friday night and almost had two goals within the first ten minutes of the game when he bounced an open-net shot off of the right post while Sailors goaltender Brendan Sullivan struggled to get back into position. Ceccanese's opening goal came at the 6:19 minute mark, on the power-play, with assistance from Falcons defenseman Dylan McInnis and JT MacDonald.

St. Catharines owned the first period, keeping the puck in Port Colborne's end most of the first 20 minutes of play. The Falcons outshot the Sailors in the first by a margin of 9-5, with goaltender Steele De Fazio turning away all shots faced for St. Catharines.

GOALS BY PERIOD
TEAM	1ST	2ND	3RD	TOTAL
	0	1	1	2
	1	3	4	8

Port Colborne turned the tables on St. Catharines early in the second period when they opened with a goal to tie the game 1-1. Tanner McGowan beat De Fazio less than 2 minutes into the second with assists from former Falcon Thomas Longland and Kris Lavoie.

Check out the game stats by clicking here...

St. Catharines jumped ahead of the Sailors late in the second period with a goal from forward Chris Garbacz. His goal at the 15:31 mark of the period was assisted by Marc Falzoi and Ryan Elbers. Falzoi turned around and grabbed a goal of his own at 17:19 to give the Falcons a 3-1 lead. Garbacz and Elbers added two more helpers on the play.

Dan Ziraldo lifted St. Catharines to a 4-1 lead with 1:13 left to play in the second with an even-strength goal, his 5th of the season. Vladimir Bessonov and Ceccanese recorded assists on the goal, which was the last marker before the second intermission. The Sailors tied up the total shots on net in the second period, grabbing 15 versus the Falcons 11.

SHOTS BY PERIOD
TEAM	1ST	2ND	3RD	TOTAL
	5	15	12	32
	9	11	10	30

The Sailors took a bad penalty to kick off the third period which all but ended the game for Port Colborne. Dan Minor received a five minute cross-checking penalty after a hit on Marc Falzoi of St. Catharines. The Falcons took advantage of the five minute power-play when they scored their fifth goal of the game, Cecanese's second goal of the game, just 54 seconds into the third period. Riley Sheahan and McInnis added helpers on the goal.

St. Catharines added a goal to make the score 6-1 in their favour with Riley Sheahan's first of the night at the 6:10 minute mark. Garbacz and Elbers assisted, giving them three points each on the night.

The Falcons added two more goals before the end of the game. Chris Stevenson scored a power-play goal at 16:24 of the third, with assists to Daultan Leveille and Andre Abayof. Garbacz scored the 8th goal for St. Catharines, his second of the night, at the 17:37 mark. Kevin Floris and Marc Falzoi grabbed assists on the goal.

Port Colborne scored a meaningless power-play goal with 3 seconds left to play to make the final score 8-2 Friday night for the Mountainview Homes Falcons.

Attendance inside JGA Friday night was announced at 454 fans. Referees included Kevin McKnight and Darren Purnell, while the linesmen were Mark Isherwood and Drew Williams.

The Falcons have the rest of the weekend and next week off as they prepare for Friday's home game against the Fort Erie Meteors. Game time inside Jack Gatecliff Arena is set for 7:30pm sharp!