Falcons host Avs in Game 7

Home team has yet to lose in semifinal

The Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League Golden Horseshoe Conference semifinal between the Ancaster Avalanche and St. Catharines Falcons is going the distance.

The third-seeded Avalanche doubled the No. 2 seed Falcons 2-1 Saturday night in Ancaster to stave off elimination and tie the best-of-seven series at three wins a piece.

Game 7 is 7 p.m. Monday at Jack Gatecliff Arena in St. Catharines.

Winner will to play the No. 1 seed Caledonia Corvairs in the conference final, also a best-ofseven affair.

Caledonia swept the fourthseeded Niagara Falls Canucks four games to none in the other semifinal to advance to the conference final for the fifth straight year.

On Saturday, Luke Croucher netted an even-strength goal and Benjamin Woodhouse scored with the Avalanche playing shorthanded as the home team won for the sixth time in as many games.

Michael Davies accounted for the Falcons scoring with a shorthanded goal.

Ancaster outshot St. Catharines 33-29 and neither team was able to find the back of the net on the power play. The Avs finished the game 0-for-6 on the power play; the Falcons, 0-for-9.

The Avalanche edged the Falcons in head-to-head play during the regular season three wins to two with one game ending in a tie. They outscored the Falcons 13-12 over the course of the sixgame series.

Home ice wasn’t as big an advantage in the season series, with each team winning twice on the road.

Ancaster and St. Catharines were both undefeated in postseason play heading into the second round of the playoffs. The Avalanche swept the sixth-seeded Welland Jr. Canadians, while the Falcons went 4-0 versus the No. 7 seed Pelham Panthers.

St. Catharines’ last conference championship was 2013, but the Falcons advanced to the Sutherland Cup tournament the following year as a wild card. The Ancaster franchise won the Golden Horseshoe title in 2010 when the team was known as the Stoney Creek Warriors.