Blackhawks blank Falcons in home opener
Noah Fortuna got by with a little help from his friends Monday night at the Thorold Arena.
The 20-year-old veteran backstop kicked out all 30 shots fired his way for the shutout as the Thorold Blackhawks blanked the St. Catharines Falcons 1-0 in a shootout in Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League, Golden Horseshoe Conference action.
Fortuna, who was razor-sharp all game, was quick to give props to his defence.
“It was huge, the boys played so well and made it more easy for me, I guess you could say,” Fortuna said. “That’s what we’ve been working on since our last game. Just kind of get bodies out front and it’s working out pretty good so hopefully we can stick with that for the season.”
Fortuna was thrilled to return to home ice after 587 days since the last regular season game in Thorold.
“We got the two points and that’s a good team, it’s a good rival of us, so it was a good way to start off the season,” he said.
Fortuna admitted he wasn’t sure if he would ever play at the junior level after last season was wiped out by the COVID pandemic.
“In the back of your mind you think of a guy like (former Hawks captain) Austin Jensen who doesn’t get a chance to play his last year,” Fortuna said. “We’re all playing for him and I know all the guys are playing for us now that we got a chance to have a full season here, hopefully.”
Thorold coach Scott Barnes was all smiles after the Hawks first win of the season following an 8-5 loss in Niagara Falls Friday.
“Yeah, it was nice to be back in this building,” Barnes said. “It was the same on Friday night, it was just like a feeling of relief that we were going on Friday. Tonight it was a relief that we got our home opener going and we’ve got another one coming up on Saturday, and then we have kind of two weeks in between our home games and I kind of like that because it’s gonna give us a little bit more time to fix some off-ice stuff.”
Barnes was pleased with the Hawks attention to deal in their own end.
“We were really dialled in tonight, we had a lot more compete on the defensive side than we had on Friday,” he said. “We really worked on it yesterday in practice and we kind of changed a couple of things up, but it was also just the buy-in.
“A lot of kids think offensively and they want to they want to get points, so we really had to dial them in in the D zone and the structure and get them to buy in and in one day they fixed it.”
The Falcons, coming off a 2-1 overtime win in Fort Erie Saturday in their season opener, have yet to see their offence break out.
“I think it’s just consistency on what makes us successful and playing the game down in their zone,” St. Catharines coach Tyler Bielby said. “Wearing them down is when we’re at our best and when we try and be too cute is when we’re at our worst.
“We have to find ways to score.”
Bielby, on the other hand, has been more than pleased with the club’s effort in their own end over two games.
“We’ve only really technically had one goal against us so if that stays there we’ll be able to sort out the rest,” he said. “That’s the silver lining, when your defence is playing well like that and you’re playing well of the defensive side of the puck, it gives you some time to kind of sort out the offensive woes.”
Following 60 minutes of scoreless hockey, the teams played another seven minutes, three on three, without a goal in overtime.
In the shootout, Dylan Pergentile and captain Nicholas Rubino scored for Thorold.
Jordan Schanbacher and Chris Reid were turned away for the Falcons.
Hawk talk: Robert Pollilo and Rian Meisner did not dress for Thorold . . . Owen Simpson, Mitch Armstrong and Josh Reilly were scratched for the Falcons . . . An impressive new lightning system has been installed at the Thorold Arena.
STATS PACK
Blackhawks 1 Falcons 0 SO
Young’s Insurance Star of the Game: Thorold netminder Noah Fortuna with 30 saves for the shutout.
St. Catharines Falcons: No scoring.
Thorold Blackhawks: No scoring.
Game Stats: Shots on goal: By Thorold on Andrew MacLean (21), by St. Catharines on Noah Fortuna (30); Penalty minutes: Thorold 8, St. Catharines 4.
Attendance: 193
Up next: The Blackhawks are in Niagara Falls Friday. The Falcons host Hamilton Friday.
Dear reader. If you liked this story or one of the 3,500 other stories found on our website, please consider hitting the Support Us button on the right-hand side of our home page and making a PayPal contribution to our website. Your support would be much appreciated. If you are a business owner, please consider advertising on our site. Our rates are reasonable and we provide plenty of exposure for your business. Contact bpotrecz@outlook.com for more information.
