(ST. CATHARINES, ON) May 25, 2022 — After jumping out to a big lead after two periods, the Toronto Beaches were able to hold on for a 13-11 victory against the St. Catharines Athletics on Wednesday night.
Willem Firth led the way offensively for the Beaches, scoring four goals and eight points on the night. Jakson Raposo (1G, 4A), Jacob Hickey (3G, 1A), and Nathan Pouliot (1G, 3A) also had big nights. Beaches starter Will Johnston turned away 39 shots en route to the team’s second victory on the campaign.
The Beaches were quick out of the gates again in this one. Hickey got the team’s first of the game just 31 seconds into the contest. That goal kicked off a 5-0 run for the Beach. Hickey and Firth had two tallies apiece in the first while Nathan Pouliot potted his third of the season to cap off the first. Clay Scanlan added a goal for St. Catharines with 6:04 left, but Toronto went into the first intermission with a 6-1 lead.
The second stanza went in the favour of the visitors, who were able to get goals in the first 10 minutes from Matt Collison, as well as Firth and Hickey, who both completed their respective hat tricks. After an Xavier Taylor goal ended the run, Firth answered back with his fourth of the night, which was a quick-stick effort that bounced off the end boards, then off the back of the goalie and in.
St. Kitts finished the second with a two-goal run that saw Jackson Webster score before Taylor added his second of the contest.
With just 20 minutes to play, the Beaches held a 10-4 lead.
The hosts came out for the third ready to mount a comeback. They had a 5-on-3 advantage to start the period after the Beaches ran into penalty trouble to end the second. Just 17 seconds in, Justin Porga struck to make it 10-5. Josh Fairey got his second of the year in transition to push the Toronto lead back to six. However, the Athletics scored four of the next five goals to draw within striking distance.
A three-goal run — with goals from Taylor, Tye Steenhuis, and Porga — was halted by Greg Palmer, who stung a shot from the top of the offensive zone to nab his first Junior A goal. That would hold up as the eventual winner.
Fairey got his second of the game on another transition chance to give the Beaches an insurance marker. Kaelen Smith got a goal back and Taylor got his fourth of the game with 33 seconds left in the third. But it was too little, too late, as the Beaches were able to kill off the remainder of the clock to secure the 13-11 final on the road.
Now sitting at 2-2 on the year, the Beaches return to action on Thursday, May 26 when they welcome the Whitby Warriors to Ted Reeve Arena for the second and final matchup between the two teams in the regular season.