By Dan
McCaffery
"It was a
good, hard
fought
battle,
Head Coach
Dan Rose
said after
watching his
club squeak
out a win
late in the
third
period. The
further you
go in the
playoffs,
the more 2-1
games you'll
see.
Ryan
Vendramin's
goal late in
the third
period gave
the Sarnia
Legionnaires
a
hair-raising
win in front
of 1,623
fans over
the LaSalle
Vipers
Sunday. The
conquest
also gave
the Legion
crew a 2-1
lead in
games in the
Western Jr.
'B' hockey
semi-final
playoff
series.
"Brandon
Layman won
the draw and
Cameron
Clarke sent
it over to
me,
backdoor,
Vendramin
recalled.
For the big
forward, it
was his
third goal
of the
playoffs.
Vendramin
said the
game was a
hard,
tight-checking
affair from
start to
finish. The
whole
playoffs
have been
like that,
he said.
Riley
Babkirk
broke up a
scoreless
tie early in
the second
period after
being set up
by linemates
Nathan Mater
and Jay
Clarke.
The
Legionnaires
had a
glorious
chance to
take command
of the
contest not
long after
that when
they found
themselves
with a
two-man
advantage
for 1:41.
"If we had
scored on
that
five-on-three
it might
have changed
the game,
but we
didn't,
Rose said.
Give them
(LaSalle)
credit.
On the other
side of the
coin, Sarnia
was
successful
in killing
the two
short-handed
situations
it faced.
LaSalle's
Nathan
Savage
squared
matters
early in the
third period
with an
unassisted
tally,
setting the
stage for
Vendramin's
goal, which
came at the
16:11 mark.
With half a
minute to
go, Sarnia
goalkeeper
Andrew
Masters made
a save that
prevented
the Vipers
from forcing
overtime.
"It went off
a tip, I
turned
around and
saw it
rolling on
the
goal-line,
the
netminder
recalled. I
went into
desperation
mood and
swooped it
away.
"He was our
player of
the game, he
turned
around and
got that one
off the
goal-line,
Rose said.
Masters
stopped 34
shots and at
the other
end Paolo
Battisti
faced 25
Sarnia
drives.
Game Four
goes
Wednesday
March 18th
in LaSalle,
with the
fifth
contest set
for the
Brock Street
barn on
Thursday at
7:10 pm.
