Sarnia Legionnaires
2009 - 2010

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Playoff Series 1

Sarnia Legionnaires vs Chatham
March 2, 2010
by Dan McCaffery
special to

Chase Clark scored a dramatic overtime goal last night to give the underdog Sarnia Legionnaires a thrilling 6-5 victory over the powerful Chatham Maroons.

Clark, who was named the game's first star, took a rebound off a point shot and tapped it into a yawning cage at the 1:13 mark of the fourth period to end a sensational contest played before just under 800 fans at the Brock Street Barn. Rookie rearguard Tanner Ferguson and captain Tyler Cicchini picked up assists on the marker, which was Clark's second of the game and third of the playoffs. More impressive still, the Petrolia sniper has six points in the first two post season games.

The victory ties the best-of-seven Western Ontario Hockey Conference quarter-final series at a game apiece. The third contest will be held Thursday in Chatham.

The game started badly for the Legionnaires, who were nearly run out of the rink in the first stanza. The Maroons, who finished in third place in the regular schedule, outshot the sixth-ranked Legionnaires 16-7 and outscored them 2-0.

But coach Jeff Perry's defending Western Jr. 'B' champions came out of the gate at the start of the second period like a pack of hungry wolves, scoring four goals while hitting the crossbar and the post on two other occasions.

Clark got the comeback under way at the 0:28 second mark when he scooped up a rebound from a hard shot from Owen Rogers and fired it behind Maroons netman Mike Ostropolec. Defenceman Tommy Ziolkowski also earned an assist.

Tanner Tomlinson tied the game just over a minute later with a drive from directly between the two faceoff circles. Cicchini and Joel Steeves were credited with assists.

Jesse Drydak put the Sarnians ahead 3-2 when he collected a rebound from a shot off the post and dented the twine just past the mid-point of the second period. This time Clark and Shawn Waldie got the assists on the powerplay score.

The barrage of goals kept coming, with Chatham squaring matters at 3-3 before Andy Sokol jumped on a loose puck and fired it over a sprawled Ostroplec to give Sarnia the lead at 18:14. Tomlinson and Brent Sauve picked up helpers. But before the crowd could finish celebrating, the visitors had knotted the score at 4-4.

In the third frame the frantic back-and-forth action that's so typical of Jr. 'B' hockey continued, with Chatham taking the lead at the 3:25 point.

Eight minutes later, Cicchini create a 5-5 deadlock with a powerplay shot from the faceoff circle.

That set the stage for Clark's dramatic game-winner in extra time.

  • Clark was first star, Chatham's Thor Skalski was second star and Cicchini was third.

  • The Legionnaires outshot Chatham 36-35, including 3-0 in overtime.

  • Chatham's normally awesome powerplay was 1-for-6. Sarnia was 3-for-7 with the man advantage.

  • The series moves to Chatham for game three on Thursday night. Game four is in Sarnia Saturday, with the puck drop set for 7:30 p.m. So far, the series has been astonishingly close, with both teams scoring 10 goals. The shots on goal have favoured Chatham 79-77.

  • Kyle Washer got the win in net for Sarnia.