By Dan McCaffery
The Sarnia
Legionnaires won a
wild one at the
Brock Street barn
Thursday, dumping
the London Nationals
7-5.
The victory, which
came before just
under 1,300 fans,
was Sarnia's second
win over London in
four days.
With the triumph,
the Legionnaires
improved their
record to 26-12-1.
That leaves them in
second place, three
points ahead of the
third ranked Chatham
Maroons. But the
Maroons have two
games in hand on the
Legionnaires.
Specialty teams were
the difference in
the contest, with
Sarnia scoring three
power-play goals on
five opportunities.
The Nats blinked the
red light once on
six manpower
advantages. One of
their failed
power-plays came
during a prolonged
two-man advantage.
Head coach Dan Rose
said, “We can score
and we've got a lot
of character in that
room.” He added the
score did not
reflect the play,
with London getting
a lucky bounce on
one of its goals.
Austin Kemp put the
visitors ahead 1-0
just 40 seconds into
the game.
But the Legionnaires
scored two straight
power-play goals to
take the lead.
Jordan Fogarty was
credited with the
first one but, after
the game, he said
the puck was
actually deflected
into the net by
teammate Riley
Babkirk.
Still, Fogarty had a
great game, scoring
two goals of his own
to bring his total
for the campaign up
to 13. More
impressive still, he
has four goals in
his last two
outings.
With the score tied
at 2-2, Ryan
Vendramin scored his
19th of the season
with a shot just off
to the side of the
cage.
Shortly after that,
Hunter Tyczynski
notched his first of
the season, firing a
blistering drive
under the crossbar
to send Sarnia into
the first
intermission ahead
by a goal.
In the middle frame
Fogarty scored twice
while Scott Goodman
had the lone
Nationals marker.
Fogarty just missed
another goal in the
final stanza when he
broke in alone, only
to be turned back by
goalkeeper Justin
Tugwell.
In the final period
London's Kyle
Robinson was
credited with an
exceptionally fluky
goal that made the
score 5-4.
But the Legionnaires
quickly restored
their two-goal edge
when Brandon Layman
beat Tugwell to a
loose puck and sent
the rubber over to
defenceman Kyler
Keating. Keating
made no mistake,
burying his 12th of
the campaign.
The Nats refused to
give up, however,
and they were
rewarded with a late
goal by Matt Bean.
Cody Trowell finally
put an end to the
drama with an empty
net tally.
Winning goalie
Andrew Masters made
38 saves. Tugwell
blocked 35 pucks.
It was a chippy
affair, with the
officials handing
out 108 minutes in
penalties, or
exactly 54 apiece.
The Legionnaires
return to action
Sunday when they
travel to
Leamington. Their
next home game is
next Thursday when
they host the
LaSalle Vipers. Game
time is set for 7:10
p.m.
