The Caledonia Pro-Fit Corvairs broke out of a goal-scoring mini-funk Saturday night with an impressive 5-1 win over the first place St. Catharines Falcons at the Haldimand Centre Arena.
Once again, as has been the case all season, the Corvairs massively outshot their components 40-19. So far, in 7 games played they have fired 290 shots on the opposition, but only carry a .059 shots percentage. Still, persistence seems to be paying off.
Despite out-shooting the Falcons, 12-6 in the first 20 minutes, the Corvairs went to into the first intermission down 1-0. That goal cam 42 second into the game, scored by Nicholas Dozzi.
It took a while for Caledonia shooters to adjust their sights but once they starting hitting the net with their high percentage chances, the goals started going in.
Jamie Forslund tied the game at 4:10 with a shot from Cosimo Fontana and Connor Patton that squeezed through Falcons goalie Jonathan D’Ilario with just enough mustard on it to make it over the goal line. They had lots of good chances after that, but could not seem to find the net until 16:02, when Jake Brown scored what would stand as the game winner from Fontana and Patton.
Connor Bramwell added another from Anton Trublin and Matthew Hore at 18:12 to take a 3-1 lead heading into the final 20 minutes.
Nathan Gomes connected from Jordan Peacock and Hore at 9:49, and Peacock closed out the scoring at 17:32 with an unassisted effort.
“I thought they caught a break with that first goal, which looked offside to me,” said general manager Brian Rizzetto. “But we caught a break with our first goal too. Once we got going, I thought our defense and goalie played pretty good.”
He admits that the shots count in recent games doesn’t really reflect scoring chances.
“We’ve got to start paying the price to get inside and get better shots,” Rizzetto says. “And I thought we did that against St. Catharines.”
Tempers flared near the end of the game when frustrated Falcon Tyler Jackson and Caledonia’s Justin Abraham squared off with 30 seconds remaining in the game.
The win lifted the 5-2 Corvairs into third place behind the Falcons and Welland Jr. Canadians.
The Corvairs will have a busy week ahead, seeing action next in Niagara Falls, Friday, October 10th before returning home for a Saturday night date with the Kitchener Dutchmen. Game time is 8 pm. They will also host the Ancaster Avalanche in a rare Monday night game at the Haldimand Centre at 7:30.
