A lucky bounce Thursday night could have proved fateful for the visiting St. Catharines Falcons Thursday as the home team, mired in fifth place in Golden Horseshoe Conference standings, came that close to knocking off the first-place Falcons.
But there’s a reason the Falcons have 37 wins so far this season while Thorold has 18 and that gap was on full display Friday night as the home squad pummelled the Blackhawks 8-2.
The drubbing didn’t start until midway through the first, but once the gates opened, they opened wide.
St. Catharines was ahead 3-0 by the end of the first and doubled that lead to 6-0 by the end of the second.
St. Catharines pushed it to 7-0 early in the third before Thorold finally responded with a power play goal from Jonathan Balah, assisted by Patrick McCluskey and Riley Sutherland.
The Falcons regained their seven-goal spread before Thorold finished the scoring with Balah’s second of the night at the three-quarter mark, assisted by Mario Zitella and Evan Miller.
The two teams combined for 24 penalties with 12 being called in the third period alone. Despite the lopsided score, St. Catharines only narrowly outshot Thorold 37-35.
The Hawks will be on the road for their next match against sixth-place Fort Erie at 3:30 p.m. at the Leisureplex Monday, Feb. 18 before a home-and-home series against dead-last Lockport starting on the road Wednesday, Feb. 20 at 7 p.m. before returning home Thursday, Feb. 21 at 7 p.m.
