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 ST.
MARYS – For the second time in two weeks the Sarnia
Legionnaires blew a road game Sunday that they
probably should have won.
Leading the hometown St. Marys Lincolns 4-1 in the
third period, the Legionnaires suffered a meltdown,
ending up on the short end of a 6-4 score.
Earlier this month, they squandered an identical 4-1
lead in St. Thomas.
The
Legionnaires played a strong first period. In fact,
they scored one goal and hit two posts.
Ilya Arkalov gave the visitors an early lead when,
standing just outside the crease, he pounced on a
rebound and calmly tapped it into a yawning cage.
Arkalov, who never seems to be afraid to go into the
danger areas near
the net, now has 10 goals on the season.
St.
Marys tied the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League
contest 1-1 but, before the period was over, Sarnia
nearly took the lead when Tyler Annett rang a shot
off the post.
Great second period
It
would be easy to say the turning point of the game
came in the third period, when the Legionnaires fell
apart. But it may actually have come in the second
stanza, when they dominated the action but failed to
build up a huge lead.
Early on, Shawn Waldie hit a goal post.
Not
long after that, Jeff Schroeter stole the puck at
centre ice, streaked in on a breakaway and scored
his fourth of the year with a rising backhander to
give Sarnia a 2-1 edge.
The
Legionnaires kept pouring it on, missing several
great chances before Jesse Drydak jammed in a loose
puck from the side of the net to make it 3-1.
In
all, the visitors pumped 19 shots on goal during
that frame. But they scored only twice on half a
dozen glorious chances.
Meltdown
Drydak started the third stanza off on the right
foot with a cannonading drive from the sideboards
that went in high for his second of the game and 26th
of the year.
But
after that it was all St. Marys, with the Lincs
scoring five straight goals to grab the win.
Afterward, Sarnia coach Dan Rose blamed the loss on
his team's failure to compete for the full 60
minutes. It is, he added, something they have been
doing far too much of as of late. In fact, he said
the Legionnaires have seldom played well over the
past 10 games.
Game notes:
*
Owen Rogers, Nathan Mater and Brent Sauve got
assists on the Sarnia goals.
·
Kyle Washer took the loss in net, dropping his
record to 15-7-1. He made 37 saves.
·
The
Legionnaires played without Tanner Tomlinson,
Captain Tyler Cicchini and Tanner Ferguson, all of
whom are injured.
·
Sarnia had 38 shots on goal.
·
The
Legionnaires are now one game below .500 with an
18-19-3 record.
·
The
team returns to action Thursday when it hosts the
Strathroy Rockets. Game time at the Brock Street
Barn is 7:10 p.m.
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