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Hard-fought victory for Legionnaires
dan mccaffery  November 19th, 2010
 

Tanner Tomlinson's surprise goal gave the Sarnia Legionnaires a hard-fought 2-1 victory over the St. Marys Lincolns last night.

The veteran forward got the winner early in the third period of the Western Ontario Hockey Conference contest, fooling goalie Greg Dodds with a relatively soft shot.

Dodds, who had made half a dozen spectacular saves up until that point, seemed unprepared for the low wrister, which came on a Legionnaire powerplay.

The play actually started outside the Lincs blueline.

"Nathan Mater banked it off the boards and it came back to me,” Tomlinson said afterward. “I soccer-kicked the thing and was on my way.”

As he came into the St. Marys zone, Tomlinson came up against a defenceman who appeared poised to take the rubber away from him. But before the rearguard could react, Tomlinson had fired the puck between his legs and into the net.

"I pulled it in with one hand and let go a quick snap shot,” he explained. “It went in bottom shelf. I had him (Dodds) a little bit asleep.”

Tomlinson, who was named the game's first star, was quick to add Dodds deserved credit for his overall performance. “The goalie was absolutely hot, but we kept shooting and shooting.”

In fact, Sarnia pumped 41 shots on the Stone Town netman, who earned third star honours for his heroics.

Tomlinson said the mood in the Legionnaire dressing room is “great” now that the club has won two of its last three outings. “Things are going good,” he said. “We're on our way, we're going to get a lot more wins for sure.”

Disciplined start

The Legionnaires showed great discipline in the first period, staying out of the penalty box for the entire 20 minutes. More than that, they didn't appear to do anything that looked remotely close to being illegal. The Lincolns, on the other hand, were sent to the sin bin five straight times. But the St. Marys penalty killers were rock solid and the clubs went to the intermission locked in a scoreless tie.

St. Marys scored the only goal of the second frame when Sean Consitt buried a rebound from close range on a Lincs powerplay. Former Legionnaire Josh Cornelissen drew an assist on the play.

Third period rally

Sarnia, which by now had gone five straight periods without scoring a goal (counting last Saturday's 3-0 loss in Leamington), continued to keep the pressure on in the third stanza and it finally paid off.

Nathan Mater defected home a point shot to tie the game at the 5:46 mark. Owen Rogers and Shawn Waldie drew assists on what was the rookie Mater's third goal of the year.

Shortly after Tomlinson's 4th of the campaign put Sarnia ahead at the 11:47 mark, the game became a chippy affair featuring checks from behind, a fight and a high sticking major, among other things. Tomlinson was right in the thick of things, throwing two thunderous body checks on one shift.

Legionnaire notes:

· Sarnia goalie Kyle Washer, who was roaming about like a third defencman at times, turned back all but one of the 29 pucks he faced to earn second star status. He now has a sparkling 8-1 won-lost record (plus one shootout loss).

· Paid attendance at the Brock Street Barn was 1,231.

· Jeff Paulley drew the only assist on Tomlinson's goal.

· The Legionnaires are in Strathroy Saturday and travel to Chatham Sunday.

· Sarnia forward Jeff Schroeter was involved in a third period fight after he came to the rescue of Washer, who was being roughed up by one of the Lincolns.

· Sarnia remains in eighth place in the nine-team Western Conference, but the Legionnaires are just two points back of Chatham and only four back of Leamington. They have a game in hand on both clubs.

· The Legionnaires have named Tomlinson an assistant captain.

· After the game, general manager Bob Williamson announced Polish import Jan Rodziewicz has been released. He had one assist in 10 games.

 

 

 




 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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