ORCHARD PARK — Niagara-Wheatfield struggled to get off the ground but boy did it stick the landing.

The Falcons defeated Orchard Park 3-2 in overtime on Sunday night at Leisure Rinks in a battle of the top two teams in Division 1 Federation Hockey. Chace Woods’ penalty shot with six seconds left and Nick Peters’ overtime goal turned what looked like a sure loss into a win in the blink of an eye.

“We wear team’s down over time,” N-W coach Rick Wrazin said. “If we get a better start it happens even better. You saw it happen today, we put ourselves in a hole early. We have to get out of that habit.”

The win is Wheatfield’s seventh in its last eight games. Throughout the streak, it has struggled to play three full periods of hockey - save for Saturday night’s 4-0 win over Kenmore East. On Sunday, the Falcons went back to their old habits.

“When we can play three periods it’s hard for team’s to keep up with us,” Wrazin said.

Orchard Park scored two goals within 40 seconds of one another in the middle of the first period to jump out to a 2-0 lead. That score would stand throughout the frame.

In the second period, the Falcons tilted the ice in their favor and finally broke through on the power play on a slapper from the point off the stick of Noah Wrazin. He beat Orchard Park goalie Thomas Held over his blocker side into the top right corner to make it 2-1 with 7:03 left in the second.

The Falcons really ramped up the pressure late in the second period but the horn rang before they could notch the tying marker.

“Going into the locker room honestly I was thinking this is bad for us because they get to rest,” Wrazin said. “At the time we really didn’t need it.”

Wheatfield came out firing in the third but was slowed down in the middle of the period when it took two penalties to give Orchard Park a 5-on-3 advantage with about 6:30 to play. The Falcons were able to kill off both penalties but wasted valuable time.

Things looked bleak as they still trailed 2-1 with 38 seconds left on the clock, especially with Orchard Park was on the power play. However, the Quakers took an offside penalty on what would have been a 3-on-0 rush and then were called for unsportsmanlike conduct, giving Wheatfield 22 seconds of a power play.

The Falcons pulled the goalie for a 6-on-4 advantage and almost cashed in with about 10 seconds left when they hit the side of the net. A Falcon tried to sneak the puck into the short side after that but a Quaker defender jumped on it and kept it out the net with his hand. He was called for delay of game and N-W was awarded a penalty shot.

“I give the refs a lot of credit for making the call at that point in the game,” Wrazin said. “I honestly didn’t think we’d see that call and to their credit they made it.

“And Woodsy, he’s been really good for us down low and around the goalie and he’s got great hands. We knew who was shooting right away.”

Woods took the shot with six seconds left and slid it just under Held’s pad to force overtime.

In overtime, Woods shot from a bad angle and was stopped but Peters scooped up the rebound and beat Held for the game-winning goal.

The win moves the Falcons (8-4, 6-2 Division 1) and Quakers (5-1-1-1) into a tie for first in the division with 12 points apiece.

Wheatfield is back on the ice at 7 p.m. Friday when they take on Hamburg at HarborCenter.

Follow Niagara Gazette high school sports reporter Derek Wangleron Twitter @dwangler2 for updates on all of your local teams

Chace Woods cashes in on penalty shot

https://youtu.be/BKYXLY_UW8E

      Niagara-Wheatfield forward Chace Woods scores on a penalty shot to tie the game with Orchard Park on Jan. 8 with six seconds left, sending the game to overtime. The Falcons would win in OT

Nick Peters OT game-winner

https://youtu.be/KLBYA8zMdpQ

     Niagara-Wheatfield forward Nick Peters scores in overtime to lift the Falcons past Orchard Park 3-2 on Jan. 8 at Leisure Rinks