Saints capture third straight OLA Sr. B Title

ST. CATHARINES, Ont. - The St. Catharines Saints captured their third straight OLA Sr. B title Saturday night as they came from behind to defeat the Six Nations Rivermen by the score of 10-9 in front of a capacity crowd at Bill Burgoyne Arena.

"I am so proud of these guys for capturing a third straight provincial title," said General Manager Dave Colbourne. "They have dedicated themselves to winning and competing each and every game and this win was well deserved. We have one more goal as a team and that is bringing a President's Cup to St. Catharines."

The Saints opened the scoring 10 minutes into the opening period on a goal from captain Brad Favero. Six Nations answered back with four straight goals in the final five minutes of the first period to take a 4-1 lead.

Less than a minuted into the second period, Wayne Vanevery would get his second of the game to give the Rivermen a 5-1 lead. St. Catharines would answer with four of the next five, including two straight from Andrew Potter, cutting the lead to 7-5 with 7:44 left in the period. Six Nations led 7-6 after 40  minutes.

Five minutes into the third period, the Saints would tie the game, 7-7, on a goal from Andy Tober. Two minutes later Cory Bomberry would beat Saints starter Jake Henhawk to regain the one goal lead 8-7. St. Catharines would answer with back to back goals from Chris Attwood and Jason Henhawk midway through the period to take a 9-8 lead with 10:53 left in regulation.

With three minutes left in regulation, Saints Favero would beat Rivermen starter Angus Goodleaf to put St. Catharines up 10-8. Less than a minute later, Six Nations Justin Gibson buried an outside shot past Henhawk making it a one goal game.

Henhawk would come up big late registering two key saves in the final two minutes for his sixth straight playoff victory and third straight Sr. B Title.

Leading the Saints offense was Brad Favero who led all scorers with five points adding three goals and two assists. Andrew Potter and Chris Attwood both contributed with two goals and two assists each. Corey Fowler added a goal and two helpers while Jason Henhawk (1G, 1A) and Andy Tober (1G) rounded out the scoring.

For the Rivermen, Cory Bomberry (2G, 2A), Wayne Vanevery (2G, 2A), Justin Gibson (2G, 1A) and Cody Johnson (2G) all contributed with two goals each. Chancy Johnson added a single marker in the loss.

The Saints will now prepare for the 2013 Sr. B President's Cup August 26th to September 1st being hosted by the Kahnawake Mohawks.

OLA Sr. B Finals (Best 3 out of 5) St. Catharines wins 3-0

Game 1 - St. Catharines 12, Six Nations 7
Game 2 - St. Catharines 7, Six Nations 5
Game 3 - St. Catharines 10, Six Nations 9