TORONTO, ON (May 24, 2024) — It was a long-awaited return to Ted Reeve Arena for the Toronto Beaches, who sent the fans in The Sandbox home happy with a 12-9 victory over the Burlington Blaze on Friday night.
Forward Willem Firth led the way once again with a dominant eight-goal performance accompanied by three assists for an impressive 11 points.
In his first Junior A start, Goaltender Nick Parolin stayed composed between the pipes and grabbed his first career OJLL win.
Beaches forward Greg Palmer broke the ice in the Sandbox, scoring the first goal of the game less than two minutes in on the power-play. Firth would double down soon after grabbing his first and second goals of the game, creating a three-goal lead for Beaches.
The Blaze ended the three-goal shutout with a goal from Will MacLeod, however, Firth secured his hat-trick 30 seconds later. MacLeod responded again, scoring his second of the game. But the pair continued to trade goals, with Firth scoring his fourth to close out the period with just over 30 seconds left to play.
The Beaches carried a 5-2 advantage into the first intermission.
Alex Marinier swiftly opened the scoring for the Blaze in the second frame. MacLeod would follow notching his third for Burlington. Palmer followed his first-period performance and got his second of the night for the Beaches with a nicely placed shot to beat Blaze goaltender Calum Leaver-Peryra. MacLeod would once again answer for the Blaze, cutting the Beaches lead to one. Four minutes later, Firth scored in transition off of a feed from Liam Bucknell to make it a two-goal game.
After a scoreless eight minutes, rookie forward Ryan Gonsalves scored his first shorthanded goal electrifying the home crowd. However, the Blaze would get the last laugh of the period and MacLeod would score with 30 seconds left.
The Toronto Beaches would enter the third frame of the game holding a two-goal lead over the Blaze with a score of 8-6.
Firth continued his dominant performance in the third period with an impressive three-goal showcase, building the lead to five heading into the final 15 minutes. Burlington would match the three goals from Firth, with goal credits going to Marinier, MacLeod, and Matthew Pereria. Peyton Booth sealed the win for the Beaches with a power-play goal with just under three minutes left to play.
The Toronto Beaches secure the home-opener win and now sit at 2-0 on the season. The team will head to Peterborough on Monday, May 27 to take on the Jr Lakers at Peterborough Memorial Arena, with the opening face-off set for 8:00 pm ET.