It was time for a few Niagara Wheatfield players to break out, and each found his way in Wednesday’s semifinal game against Orchard Park. The Falcons came away with a 4-0 win over the Quakers as everything clicked just in time.
High-scoring forward Garrett Downie, who scored 14 goals in league play during the regular season, totaled three points, including two empty-net goals.
Alex Bauer, known for his on-ice presence but not so much his contributions to the score sheet, scored once.
Sophomore Nick Peters, battling his way back from an injury, scored the first goal of the game, which stood as the game winner.
Goaltender Dominic Tallarico made 26 saves to earn the shutout win in net.
Niagara Wheatfield finished the regular season 7-8-1 in league play, but the Falcons played well in a quarterfinal win over Frontier and continued that level of play in Wednesday’s game against Orchard Park, a team they’d lost to twice during the regular season. The Falcons knew what they needed to do and knew not to put too much stock in past results.
“[We needed] the same high energy we’ve had the past game, and just to keep it rolling,” Bauer said. “We’re a big snowball rolling down a hill.”
“They beat us twice this year, but we know if we played a good game, we could probably take ’em,” said Peters. “It was a good fought game, but we knew something was about to click.”
“They were gonna come out strong; we gotta come out stronger and gotta stick to the system and the forecheck we were told to do,” Downie said. “We’ve been getting prepared all season, and we knew we were ready to turn the corner and go.”
“I thought they were gonna be a really tough team,” said Tallarico. “We haven’t beat them in two years, and you gotta go in thinking you can win every game, and [coach Rick] Wrazin really teaches that to us.”
Peters scored first, but it didn’t come easily. It was late in the first period when Kasey Haseley passed to Peters and Peters buried it.
“We knew the first one was gonna be big,” Peters said. “Haseley took it up the side, and we had Tobey driving the net, so I knew if I slowed down, I could get open in the high slot, and Haseley made a nice pass, and I tried to go up top with it, and it worked out nice.”
“He’s been big for us all year, and early on he was getting some points,” Wrazin said of Peters. “He took an injury, and he’s been gradually getting back to himself, and it was nice to see him get a big goal in a big game. He works hard and he’s a very smart player. He deserves it.”
Late in the second period, Alex Bauer added to the lead with a goal from Downie. The pass was a beauty, and Bauer was in the right place and put the puck in the net with a backhand shot.
“Downie had a great pass just as I was crashing the net,” Bauer said. “Downie had a great pass and I had soft hands for once, so that was nice.”
Wrazin was excited to see Bauer score in addition to everything else he brings to the team.
“Bauer’s was a nice goal,” Wrazin said. “He’s pretty much our motor, so to see him get one, he deserves one in a game like this, and he sets the tone with his pace. He’s just everywhere, and he’s disruptive, and he’s the kind of kid you hate to play against but you love to have on your team.”
While the goal gave Niagara Wheatfield some insurance with a 2-0 lead, Bauer felt it did more than that.
“I think the biggest part of that was just the excitement it brought back to the team,” he said. “We were starting to get pinned down a little bit, and that brought us back up, so that was for the team, not for anything else.”
Around both of those goals and even up to and through Downie’s empty netters at the end, strong defense and Tallarico’s strong performance in net held Orchard Park scoreless.
“He was huge today,” Wrazin praised the goalie. “Obviously they didn’t score on him, but he made some really big saves. He made a save in the second period where, just, the way that he made it, I knew he was on his game. And just the way he tracked the puck and everything he did. I kinda knew he was where he needed to be today, and we know that he’s been capable of playing that way, and that’s what we expect out of him.”
“I think I had good rebound control,” Tallarico said. “I made that one save at the end, but my D is there for me all game, and it really helps.”
“Four-nothing was a generous ending; it was pretty close the whole game,” Peters said. “Rico made some great saves, but the best defense was gonna win that game. We played good on the D side, so it was a big game for us.
And while they played strong defense in their end, the Falcons had to adjust to the Quakers’ defense. It surprised them at first, but they adjusted to it enough to break through and score a few goals.
“We’ve been focusing on tightening our defensive play for a little while now,” Wrazin said. “They were hanging one or two guys most of the game. Didn’t really expect that coming in. We knew they liked to stretch, but usually they do it off the transition or the breakout. They were just keeping guys back, so that threw us off a little bit early on, took us a little time to adjust. But we knew we were gonna get a fight, and they’re a good hockey team. We got what we expected.”
“We had a real conservative forecheck going, and we were just playing the game and just taking it easy, taking it slow, making sure that we kept a little bit of pressure on, but just holding onto our lead,” explained Bauer.
And when Orchard Park pulled its goalie late to try to create some offense, Downie capitalized with two empty-net goals. The first came with just under two minutes remaining, and the second sealed the 4-0 win with four seconds left.
“That felt good, just to make sure we closed it out, but all in all it was a good game,” Downie said. “Felt amazing that we get to move on and play another game with the team.”
On Monday, Niagara Wheatfield is scheduled to face rival Williamsville North at 4 pm in the large school Section VI finals. The Falcons are not only ready to face the Spartans, but as Tallarico said, North is exactly who they hoped to face.
“We’ve wanted them all year,” Tallarico said. “We want ’em every year. My freshman year, we lost to them twice in the regular season and then we beat ’em in sectionals and we came back from a two-nothing deficit, and it’s a big rivalry for us, and it means a lot.”
“We didn’t have the best regular season, but we knew if we played our best, we could definitely make a run for it, so I’m looking forward to it,” Peters said. “It’s gonna be a tight one, but I’m looking forward to it.”
“That’s the greatest feeling ever,” Bauer said of Wednesday’s win, “but we have more work ahead of us, and a lot more work. We’re expecting to go out there and keep on playing the same high energy game that we’ve had, and we’ll get the result that we want.”
And Downie’s expectation: “A tough game that we have to work hard in and play our hearts out.”