TORONTO, ON (May 30th, 2024) — After a dominant win in Peterborough, the Toronto Beaches headed back to Toronto for a tilt against the St. Catherines Athletics Thursday night. A tough, gritty battle between the two teams would see the score at 10-8 in favour of the Beach.
Beaches forward Willem Firth led the way with an impressive double-digit 10-point night. Firth notched four goals and six assists in the 60 minutes of play while both opening and closing the Beaches’ scoring.
Goaltender Thomas Kiazyk would grab his second win in the OJLL after facing 34 shots and getting in front of 26 of them.
Three minutes after the opening face-off, the Athletics opened the period with two unanswered goals from Ian Kohut and Keaton Zavitz. But Firth would break the ice for the Beaches 14 minutes in, cutting the lead in half. The Athletics went to the man advantage late in the period and capitalized with the last touch going to Tye Steenhuis. Toronto got the last laugh of the period as Matt Collison grabbed his first with 30 left on the clock.
A lacklustre period from both sides would see the Beaches trailing by one heading into the first intermission.
Beaches started the second frame of the game hot, going on a three-goal run in the first six minutes. Firth grabbed two more goals, securing his hat-trick and Collison double-dipped, nabbing his second of the game. Tye Steenhuis of the Athletics responded promptly eight seconds after Firth’s third. Greg Palmer got himself on the board with a powerplay goal, extending the Beaches lead to two.
St. Kitts would close out the second period with a goal on a two-man advantage.
Athletics forward Ian Kohut replicated his first-period performance and opened the scoring in the third, tying the game at six apiece. However, Toronto went on another three-goal run, all of which came on the power play. Credits go to Palmer for two and Liam Aston for his first of the game.
Zavitz scored two unanswered late in the period for the Athletics to bring the game to one in the final minute. Unfortunately for the A’s, Firth would launch a ball down the floor with the goalie pulled for his first empty net goal of the season, sealing the game.
The Beach Boys will be back in action at Ted Reeve Arena on June 3 for their next matchup against the Six Nations Arrows, with the opening faceoff scheduled for 8:00 p.m. ET.