The St. Catharines Falcons came close to giving away a three-goal lead to the Thorold Blackhawks, but did just enough to escape with a 3-1 victory.

St. Catharines led by three goals at one point and ended with the victory. The largest advantage in the game came when the Falcons' Mitchell Mendonca scored on the power play at 5:53 in the third period to put St. Catharines up 4-1.

The win gave the Falcons a 1-0 lead in the best of seven series.

St. Catharines was sparked by Ryan Doucette, who had one goal. Doucette scored 1:27 into the second period to make the score 2-0 St. Catharines. Brett Brooker assisted on the tally.

The Falcons forced Thorold goalie Josh Astorino to work between the pipes, taking 43 shots.

St. Catharines also had goals scored by Tyler Jackson, Brandon Cercone, and Cam Blakely, who each put in one. In addition, St. Catharines received assists from Manny Manns, who had two and Justin Felker and Jake Evans, who contributed one each.

St. Catharines' Ben Csiernik stopped 22 shots out of the 23 that he faced. The Falcons incurred eight minutes in penalty time with four minors. Josh Astorino made 40 saves for the Blackhawks on 43 shots. Thorold incurred four minutes in penalty time with two minors.