St. Catharines earns 6-4 victory over McCoys

The race for the postseason is coming down to the wire, and the St. Catharines Saints kept their playoff hopes alive with a big 6-4 road win over the Dundas Real McCoys on Friday night. Niki Petti was the story of the evening, continuing his torrid scoring pace with a hat trick and two assists to power the Saints to victory.

Fans were barely settled into their seats following the opening ceremonies before St. Catharines drew first blood, as Matthew Riva buried his ninth of the season just 35 seconds in. The lead was short-lived — only 74 seconds, in fact — as Slater Doggett evened the score for the McCoys with a bar-down snipe. Matthew Thorpe restored the Saints' advantage at 4:26 with a floater from the point, but Dundas answered again when Justin DaSilva scored just under three minutes later to knot things back up at two.

That's when St. Catharines took control. Petti struck first in the second period, intercepting a pass and going in alone before sneaking a shot through Mike Mole's pads for his first of the night. Igor Gongalsky pulled the McCoys level once more, collecting a deflection and firing it into the wide-open side of the net, but the Saints responded with back-to-back goals to seize the lead for good. Justin Brack converted on the power play at 12:08, and Petti followed with a snapshot that would prove to be the game winner.

Petti completed the hat trick 6:57 into the third, his shot slipping through the five-hole to give St. Catharines some breathing room. Dundas trimmed the deficit to two on a milestone goal from Brad Bonello — his 100th in ACHL history — as his shot rode up a Saints defender's stick and over goaltender Trevor Micucci. The McCoys had a chance to make it a one-goal game on a late power play, but couldn't convert, with Brack standing tall on the penalty kill by blocking a pair of DaSilva shots.

In the end, Micucci earned the win with 26 saves, while Mole took the loss after allowing six goals on 38 shots for Dundas.

St. Catharines returns home Saturday night to host the Cambridge Hornets with a playoff spot squarely on the line. The Saints need a regulation win to clinch third place — anything less hands that spot to the Hornets. As for the Real McCoys, they're locked into fourth place regardless of the outcome, as they hold the tiebreaker over both teams.

Upcoming Games
Saturday February 28
Wentworth at Stoney Creek – 6:30pm
Cambridge at St. Catharines – 7:30pm

-- End of Regular Season --

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