‘Heart aches’ as Meteors fall in Game 7 OT, season ends in St. Catharines

Ally Mostafaie scored 6:14 into overtime Tuesday night to send the St. Catharines Falcons past the Fort Erie Meteors 3-2 in Game 7, ending Fort Erie’s season before 1,628 Jr. B hockey fans, with many more listening back home on Fort Erie Radio.

It was the fourth time in seven games the Meteors lost in sudden-death play, a pattern that defined a series between two clubs so evenly matched they finished with 26 and 25 shots respectively in the final game at Seymour-Hannah Sports and Entertainment Centre in St. Catharines.

Fort Erie had trailed 2-0 through two periods, with Caden Bell opening the scoring at 12:31 of the first and Dillon Atkinson adding a second at 7:19 of the second. The third period looked no different until the 10:11 mark, when Sam Tonelli scored his fifth of the playoffs, assisted by RJ Schmidt, to cut the deficit to one.

The Meteors pulled goaltender Rafael Tremblay with just over two minutes left in regulation. Coaches cycled players on double shifts in search of the equalizer. At 19:46, Danny Adamo buried his 11th of the series, assisted by Tonelli, to force overtime.

“We were down two and we decided to make a decision there at the end for who was going and coaches kept double shifting guys until finally one went in the net,” associate coach Anthony Passero told Fort Erie Radio. “On the back of Sam Tonelli, we found a way to get into overtime.”

But Fort Erie generated only two shots in the extra frame against St. Catharines goaltender Jacob Ceranic, who finished with 24 saves on 26 shots.

Mostafaie, assisted by Lucas Kisil, ended it.

The series went the full distance across 11 days, with each team alternating wins before St. Catharines took Games 6 and 7. Fort Erie’s series scoring leaders were Adamo and Tonelli, each finishing with 18 points. The clubs were near-identical in structure and approach throughout.

“Just two good teams that play similar and are coached very similar and want to just beat each other every night,” said Passero.

Passero credited the team’s five 20-year-old players, the oldest eligible age in junior hockey, for building up the excitement heading into the game. In junior hockey leagues like the Greater Ontario Hockey League, players age out at 20, making this playoff run the last for several key contributors.

“Those five guys in the room made sure that people wanted to listen to them every night, and they brought the other 15 guys along with them,” said Passero.

For those players, the loss carries particular weight. Their junior careers end with four overtime defeats in a single series.

“My heart aches for our 20-year-olds, and I just hope that our younger guys realize what kind of series they just played in and how hard it is to play in this league,” said Passero.

Regarding what comes next, he kept it brief.

“Everyone’s just going to have to go home and drown in the sorrows for a little bit and then get ready to play wherever they’re going next year,” he said.

The organization plans to take a few weeks off before evaluating the roster ahead of next season.

Stay Informed

Events, offers, contests, and breaking news, all delivered straight to your inbox.

Please enable JavaScript in your browser to complete this form.

Subscribe