It
was close, but the Sarnia Legionnaires couldn't beat
the powerful Brantford Golden Eagles last night.
The
Eagles, one of the top teams in the Midwest
Conference of the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey
League, exhibited a fine killer instinct, scoring on
most of their good chances, to skate off with a 5-3
win.
The
visitors also proved to be effective penalty
killers, escaping unscathed from six shorthanded
situations.
With the loss, Sarnia remains in sixth place in the
league's Western Conference, one point back of the
St. Marys Lincolns.
The
Legionnaires play in St. Marys tonight.
With 1,341 fans looking on, Josh Teschke scored his
second goal in two games to give Sarnia the
lead late in the first frame.
But
the Eagles tied things up less than a minute later.
In
the second stanza, although play was about dead
even, Brantford got three of the five goals scored.
Tanner Tomlinson (with his 12th) and Ilya
Arkalov (with his 8th) did the honours
for Sarnia.
“It
seemed every chance they (the Eagles) got they
capitalized on,” Legionnaires assistant coach Mike
Fleming said afterward. “With a different bounce
here and there it would have been a totally
different outcome.”
Fleming was impressed with the play of Teschke, who
was called up from the Jr. 'C' Mooretown Flags, and
defenceman Matt Cimetta, who was brought in from
minor midget ranks.
The
reinforcements were needed because Owen Rogers was
sitting out the last game of a three-game suspension
and Jeff Paulley was away tending to family matters.
In
the third frame, although the Legionnaires pressed
hard, missing three glorious scoring opportunities.
Jesse Drydak had the best chance, getting in alone,
only to be foiled by goalie Kari Rikkoken.
Game notes:
·
Josh Chapman had two assists for the Legionnaires,
while other helpers were registered by Brent Sauve,
Tyler Annett and Sokol.
·
Kyle Washer, who made 40 saves, took the loss in
net. Rikkoken faced 37 shots.
·
After the game, Legionnaires general manager Bob
Williamson announced Braden Kavaratzis has left the
team to join the Wellington Dukes Tier 11 Jr. 'A'
squad. |