The rampaging Sarnia Legionnaires scored a number of highlight reel goals last night on their way to a 9-3 win over the Lambton Shores Predators.

The victory was the fourth in a row for Coach Dan Rose's Western Ontario Hockey Conference club. In fact, the Legion crew has won six of eight since Rose took over as the team's ice general a month ago. More impressive still, Sarnia has now won seven of its last 10.

The surge has allowed the Legionnaires, now 13-12-2, to climb from eighth place to within a single point of the fifth ranked St. Marys Lincolns.

Drydak on fire

Jesse Drydak was the big gun for the winners, scoring four goals and an assist. The flashy right-winger now has a team-leading 17 goals on the season.

"Drydak scored some beautiful goals,” Coach Rose said afterward.

Here's how he did it:

--- At 13:07 of the first frame Drydak wheeled around in the faceoff circle and fired home a low wrist shot to give Sarnia the lead. Captain Tyler Cicchini and rookie defenceman Thomas Moxley drew assists.

--- At 14:33 of the second period Drydak came roaring into the Predators zone on a two-on-one break. Using his teammate as a decoy, he held onto the puck, seemingly forever, before moving into the slot and denting the twine with a high drive. Braden Kavartzis got the lone helper.

--- At 1:50 of the third stanza Drydak sprang into the clear and rifled a low shot into the corner. Cicchini and rookie rearguard Jordan McBeath set the play up.

--- At 16:00 of the third period Drydak intercepted a pass and whistled a bullet drive under the crossbar. The play was unassisted.

Preds fought back

Despite Drydak's virtuoso performance, the game was in doubt for a considerable period of time.

Cicchini gave Sarnia a 2-0 lead just 31 seconds after Drydak's first goal when he tapped the puck into a wide open cage. Shawn Waldie and Brett Thompson got the assists on what was Cicchini's fifth of the campaign.

But Lambton Shores went to the dressing room tied at 2-2, thanks to goals by Matt Rupert and his twin brother, Ryan.

Big second period

Kavaratzis put the Legionnaires ahead for good at 7:52 of the second frame when he came out of the corner and backhanded in his third of the season. Andy Sokol got an assist.

But the game was still close until the 18:00 minute mark when Waldie, standing in the faceoff circle, blasted home a high drive for his eighth of the year.

Fancy plays

In the third period the Legionnaires had the crowd of 1,208 gasping with some spectacular individual efforts.

Tyler Annett stickhandled through several players, holding onto the puck for a prolonged period, before moving in on goal, only to be foiled at the last moment.

"If he'd scored on it I'd have called TSN,” Coach Rose joked afterward.

Ilya Arkalov did score on yet another dazzling play. The Russian teen stole the puck from a Predator and moved in close for his third of the season (not counting two shootout game-winners). All five of his scores have come in the last four games.

"Ilya's (goal) was a great second effort,” Rose said. “It was almost a third effort.”

The coach also had praise for the work of goalie Mike Reed, who made 22 saves to earn his third win of the year. As well, he singled out defencemen McBeath and Moxley for their strong work in the third period.

Legionnaires notes

·         Drydak was first star, Cicchini second and Josh Chapman third.

·         Ryan Rupert scored the third Lambton Shores goal.

·         The Legionnaires are in Strathroy Saturday. They host the LaSalle Vipers next Thursday.

·         Sarnia was 0-for-5 on the powerplay, while the Predators were two-for-four.

·         Drydak got the game-winner, giving him four such tallies on the season.