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Captain
Tyler Cicchini led the Sarnia Legionnaires to their
third straight win Sunday afternoon.
The veteran forward scored three goals and added
three assists as the Legion crew defeated the
Lambton Shores Predators 11-1.
With the win, Sarnia evened its record at 21-21-3.
Perhaps of more importance, the two points moved the
team into a tie with the Chatham Maroons for seventh
place in the Western Ontario Hockey Conference.
Head coach Dan Rose gave his younger players plenty
of ice time and they responded well. In fact,
rookies Jeff Schroeter and Tyler Annett both had a
pair of goals.
Afterward, Rose had praise for the Predators, saying
they are facing a tough situation. In fact, Lambton
Shores had only 13 skaters dressed.
“It's not fair to the players,” he said. “The league
is going to have to deal with it.”
Rose was also impressed with the acrobatic work of
Preds goalie Mark Foley, who faced 65 shots. “Give
their goalie credit, he made some great saves. He
was left on his own” on a number of occasions.
Rose said the Legionnaires passed the puck well, but
looked “sloppy” at times. On those occasions, he
added, goalie Sean Parker was usually able to bail
them out with a good save. In all, Parker blocked 16
shots.
It was a relatively tame affair, possibly because
Sarnia was missing Owen Rogers, Andy Sokol and
Tanner Tomlinson, three particularly rugged
forwards. Sokol was sitting out the first of a
two-game suspension picked up in last week's big win
over London, while the other two are injured.
Quick start
Sarnia defenceman Brent Sullivan opened the scoring
with a blast from the point at 5:44 of the opening
frame. Shawn Waldie and Cicchini were credited with
assists on the powerplay marker, which went into the
books as Sullivan's second of the season. The big
rearguard now has five points in three games since
joining the Legionnaires.
The score remained that way until 16:08 when Jeff
Schroeter scored from a goalmouth scramble. Helpers
went to Ilya Arkalov and Tyler Annett.
Jesse Drydak hit the post not long after that, then
collected his team-leading 30th of the season at
19:46 when he deflected home a Sullivan drive from
the blueline. For Drydak, it was the 150th point of
his Jr. 'B' career.
Good second period
Brent Sauve got the middle frame off on the right
foot for Sarnia when he sent a rocket under the
crossbar from close range. Drydak and Cicchini
assisted on what was Sauve's 12th of the year.
Annett made it 5-0 with a low shot from the slot.
Helpers went to Schroeter and Arkalov.
The gap was widened to half a dozen with just over
three minutes left in the stanza when Cicchini
dented the twine with a low shot almost from the
side boards. Waldie and Nathan Mater got assists.
Arkalov roofed an unassisted marker when he beat a
sprawling Preds goalie to a loose puck at 18:21.
With less than a minute to play in the period,
Cicchini tapped in a pass from Drydak to make it 8-0
heading into the dressing room.
Third period
In the final period Sarnia continued to dominate,
with Schroeter lighting up the lamp from the top of
the crease after accepting a perfect pass from
behind the net. Arkalov and Drydak got assists on
what was Schroeter's second of the game and seventh
of the season.
After Jordan Belanger broke Parker's shutout bid,
the Legionnaires kept coming.
Not long after Annett rang a shot off the post,
Cicchini got the Sarnians into double figures with
the help of Sauve.
The final goal came in the last minute when Annett
walked in alone and rifled the rubber under the
crossbar from close range.
Schroeter and defenceman Steve Farlow assisted on
Annett's second of the game and third of the season.
Sarnia returns to action Wednesday in London. The
next home game is this coming Thursday, when the
Legionnaires will host the Predators.
Game time at the Brock Street Barn is set for 7:10
p.m.
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