A wise man once said, “It’s not how you start but how you finish.”
That quote certainly applied for Niagara Wheatfield goalie Dominick Tallarico on Monday. The goaltender’s day got off to bad start when shortly after arriving at the HarborCenter he realized he forgot his skates.
After getting his skates, Tallarico was put in net halfway through the game and lead the Falcons to an 8-3 win over the Bishop Timon Tigers.
“When he forgot his skates, I was a little worried about where his head might be, but he came in and played well”, Niagara Wheatfield Head Coach Rick Wrazin said. “He’s a lockdown goalie when he’s on.”
For Niagara Wheatfield, the goalie change may not have come at a better time. The Falcons had just taken five penalties in the second period before making the switch.
“I think it was a good time to make the change because we had some penalty trouble before that so it gave everybody a chance to settle down”, Wrazin said.
No matter what, forward Chase Woods and the Falcons know that Tallarico is the key to success for Niagara Wheatfield, saying “He’s a big part of our team, we rely on him a lot.”
The Falcons had a great chance three minutes in as Chase Woods had an open shot right in front of the crease but Timon goalie Nick Filipowicz got just enough of his glove on the puck to knock it away.
Woods ended the game with a goal and an assist.
“Woods has been very important upfront and strong offensively, he’s a kid who has a ton of skill”, Wrazin said. “He was trying to do a little too much, now that he is keeping it simple he’s been unbelievable especially down low.”
Less than a minute later, Woods went to the box for interference and Timon took advantage. Sophomore Fergus Gould’s New Year got off to a great start as he scored the first goal of his varsity career to give Timon the 1-0 at the first intermission.
As the second period began, the Falcons came out to a fast start.
Less than a minute into the period Timon took a penalty and the Falcons returned the favor. Nick Peters put home a great pass from Zack Belter to tie the game. 19 seconds later, the Falcons scored again as Cameron Ruhland found Thomas Efthemis to give Wheatfield the 2-1 lead.
Peters had two goals and Belter had three assists in the game.
The Falcons scored a total of four power play goals in the win.
Even after taking a penalty, the Falcons were still flying. Defenseman Noah Wrazin scored on a shorthanded breakaway to give his team the 3-1 lead just four minutes into the period.
Wrazin had a goal and an assist.
Bishop Timon got back on the power play and again found Fergus Gould for his second goal of the game to cut the Wheatfield lead to 3-2 at the end of the second.
In the third period Niagara Wheatfield stayed out of the box and put the game away as the Falcons scored four answered goals in a matter of about three minutes.
Woods believes after taking too many penalties in the second period, his team just settled down in the third.
“We were in the box for most of the second period, in the third we started to using our speed”, Woods said. “They couldn’t handle us.”
Defenseman Jake Halleen had three 3 assists in the win.
Niagara Wheatfield will host Kenmore East at Niagara University on Saturday at 8pm. Bishop Timon will not be back in Fed action until Jan. 12 when they face St. Joe’s at the Northtown Center at 6:30pm.
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