Game 6, Eastern Conference Championship Series
(1) St. Catharines Falcons 4
(3) Fort Erie Meteors 1
(SCF wins best-of-7 series 4-2)
Two power play goals early in third give Falcons first conference title since 2022
Nathan Duplessis and Ally Mostafaie scored power play goals early in the third period and the Falcons (12-3) went on to win their third straight game of the series over the Meteors (10-6) in front a crowd of 1800 at the Fort Erie Leisureplex, becoming the first recipients of the Tyson Downs Memorial Trophy as Eastern Conference Playoff champions and earning a berth in the Sutherland Cup Final.
St. Catharines awaits the winner of the Western Conference Championship series. The Chatham Maroons currently lead that series 3-2 over the St. Marys Lincolns.
VIDEO: Falcons score 2 PP goals early in third, clinch conference title
After a scoreless opening period, the Meteors took a 1-0 lead at 11:29 of the second on Jack Ryan‘s team-leading 6th goal of the playoffs. The Falcons tied the game with 2:01 left in the period on the power play when Matt Fries scored his second goal of the playoffs.
The second period ended with a roughing major assessed to Meteors captain Rylan Masterson, giving the Falcons a 5-minute power play to start the third period.
It took just 48 seconds for the Falcons to take advantage when Nathan Duplessis scored his 7th of the playoffs, giving him at least one point in each game of the series. St. Catharines went ahead for good with their second goal on the 5-minute power play on Ally Mostafaie‘s 6th of the playoffs at 2:26 for a 3-1 lead. Cameron Lowe added an empty-netter for the 4-1 final.
Lowe, who finished the series as the GOJHL playoff scoring leader with 24 points, was named the Eastern Conference Playoff MVP.
VIDEO: Falcons captain Cameron Lowe accepts Tyson Downs Memorial Trophy
VIDEO: Downs family honoured to have trophy named in Tyson’s memory
Falcons netminder Hayden Jeffery (W, 12-3) made 32 saves. Meteors goalie John Lloyd (L, 10-6) stopped 23 of 26 shots faced.
Falcons general manager Zack Schipper was elated with the all-around performance put forth by his team. “Couldn’t be happier with our effort tonight. We played a full 60 minutes. I thought we battled hard in all three zones tonight; guys were giving everything they had. Gave up the first one but settled back in, tied it late in the second and took it to them in the third period. Our goalie Hayden (Jeffery) was unbelievable again; he is the backbone to our team. Our young guys rose to the moment and our veterans led the way. This win is a special one for our organization; we will celebrate tonight and get back to work tomorrow preparing for the Sutherland Cup!”
VIDEO: Post-game comments from Falcons head coach Tyler Bielby
The Falcons improved to 5-2 on the road in the playoffs, while the Meteors finished 5-3 on home ice.
St. Catharines was 2/4 with the man advantage and were 8/22 (36.4%) in the series. The Meteors were 0/4 on the power play, and were 4/19 (21.1%) for the series.
The Falcons — who were outshot 33-27 in Game 6 — were outshot in all 4 of their wins in the series.
This is the Falcons’ 19th league/conference since the franchise was formed in 1968 as a member of the Niagara District League. They will be making their 9th appearance in the Sutherland Cup Finals, seeking their 3rd championship, having previously won in the trophy in 2012 and 2022.
The Western Conference Championship Series resumes with Game 6 on Sunday at 7:00pm when the #1 Lincolns visit the #2 Maroons. The Maroons lead the series 3-2.
