By Dan McCaffery
Defenceman Eric Marsh scored in sudden death overtime Sunday to give the
Sarnia Legionnaires a thrilling 5-4 win over the Chatham Maroons.
"Brandon Layman gave me a pass and I threw it on net,” the 17-year-old
Wyoming resident said afterward.
The puck caught the top corner over the shoulder of Maroons goalie Colin
Lauzon.
"It was a back-and-forth game, just a battle,” Marsh said. He added winning
in Chatham's Memorial Arena is not an easy task.
The Legionnaires went ahead 1-0 just one minute into the contest, thanks to
a bullet drive from the slot by rearguard Sam McCormack.
But Chatham scored three straight goals to take what looked like a
commanding lead in the middle stanza.
However, the Legionnaires refused to fold their tent, pressing hard to get
back into the game. And they were rewarded when blueliner Brett Storr scored
a shorthanded breakaway marker to get them close.
After that, Jordan Fogarty tipped in a pass to square matters at 3-3.
Before the second period was over two more goals were scored. The first came
from Chatham's Braydon Hopkins and it put the home team ahead 4-3. But
before the period ended, Sarnia's Alec DeKoning beat Lauzon on the glove
side to deadlock matters at 4-4.
There was no scoring in the third period, but Marsh blinked the red light
early in the first OT session.
"They found a way to win, it was a big win for us,” Sarnia head coach Mark
Davis said. “Everybody played well.”
Game notes:
Brock Perry left the game in the first period after being slashed. He did
not return. Ryan Vendramin missed the contest with an upper body injury and
Jacob Stos was ejected early on for checking from behind, leaving the
Sarnians seriously shorthanded up front.
Layman was a going concern all night. Before he set up the winner, he just
missed scoring a shorthanded goal in the second period and he hit the post
in the third frame.
DeKoning was all over the ice as well, narrowly missing his second goal of
the game on a number of occasions.
With the triumph, Sarnia reached the .500 mark on the campaign with a
2-2-0-1 record.
Gus Ford and Connor MacKinnon scored powerplay markers for Chatham and Ian
Faubert had their other tally.
Goalie Shayne Battler made 32 saves to pick up his second win of the season.
The Legionnaires had 41 shots on the Chatham cage.
