CALEDONIA – Jesse Barwell ended the overtime session at the Haldimand Centre Saturday to give the Caledonia Corvairs a 2-1 win over the Niagara Falls Canucks. It was a battle for first place in the Golden Horseshoe Conference.
The one point overtime loss the Canucks and the two-point win for the Corvairs have placed both teams sharing the top spot, but the Canucks have played three more games.
Niagara scored the first goal of the game with under a minute remaining in the first frame. There was no scoring in the second but at 3:28 of the third, Sean O’Brien evened the score and set up the OT game winner along with Andrew Burns.
Friday night in St. Catharines, the Corvairs dropped a 6-3 decision. The teams were tied at 2-2 after two goals, both scored by Adam Craeivich. The Falcons made it 4-2 after two periods but Jamie Lauzon got one back on a powerplay at 1:42 of the third.
Tanner Ferreira quenched any thoughts of a Caledonia comeback with a Falcons powerplay goal and an empty netter for the 6-3 final score.
Winning isn’t as easy this year for the Corvairs, but that only means they have to work harder, according to general manager Brian Rizzetto.
“There is no doubt we will have to work a little harder this year, but I think it’s good in the long run,” he says. “Later on it will make us more battle ready in the playoffs.”
“Our first three games against St. Catharines, we lost all of them,”
Saturday, Nov. 12, the Corvairs will host the last place Buffalo Regals before a road game to Welland, on Sunday.
“We are still best overall in the 26 team league, but we are a little harder pressed than other years,” says Rizzetto. “There has been some league changes that has caused us to revamp our recruiting practices, and we are coming off some yearly injuries and suspensions.”
He and coach Mike Bullard are not too concerned about the team’s future when they get the whole lineup health and ready for the playoffs.