Thursday,
February
28
vs.
Strathroy
Blast
Unable
to
Get
a
Win
at
Home
in
Series
Against
Rockets
Final
Score:
Strathroy
-
2
Sarnia
- 1
by
Deb
Lawrence
In goal for Strathroy was Ben Thomas and between the pipes for the Blast was John Faulkner. The crowd was announced at 873 and the noisy Blast fans left the game disappointed that the their team had not managed to win one game at home in this series. It was a noisy bunch that attended the game, both Sarnia and Strathroy fans encouraging their teams with all manner of instruments of noise making. Some outstanding saves were made by Faulkner and Thomas stood tall in net for his team when called upon to make some timely saves. It was a hard fought series and the Blast would not go away as easily as some had thought, considering the young age of the players of this team. They played gamely and the win did not come easily. Well done, gentlemen.
1st Period: A cross checking penalty was taken 22 seconds in by Strathroy's Tyler Carroll as a result of applying his stick to Scott Stafford. Sarnia responded with a power play goal at 1:06 off the stick of Tyler Peters who was fed a pass through the crease from Matt Abercrombie on the right wing. Also picking up an assist was Tyler Cicchini. Sarnia's Chris McGuffin went off at 14:31 for roughing and Strathroy made it a 1-1 game 28 seconds into their power play with a marker off the stick of Jared Anger from Kyle Greenside and Patrick Easter. Both teams played with less physical presence during this 20 minutes of play but there was penalty of action in both ends. Shots on goal: Strathroy - 12 Sarnia - 10. Each team was 1 for 1 with the man advantage this period.
2nd Period: No scoring took place this period but each team had some glorious chances, especially when enjoying the man advantage, which occurred more often in this 20 minutes of play. Going off at 1:25 for interference was Josh Cornelissen of the Blast. A tripping minor at 3:49 put Jared Anger of Strathroy in the sin bin after hauling down Sarnia's Tyler Peters as he was going in on net . At 6:21 it was Sarnia's Clark MacPherson off for slashing but Strathroy enjoyed the man advantage until the 7:37 mark when Rocket's Andrew Secco was called for holding - a result of trying to keep Tyler Cicchini of Sarnia from a scoring chance. Slashing was the call at 10:49 that put Eric Beauchamp in the penalty box for a two minute time out and one minute later he was joined by team mate Dan Grant and Sarnia's Tyler Cicchini as each took a roughing minor - courtesy of a bit of scrum after play in Strathroy's end. Shots on goal: Strathroy - 9/21 Sarnia - 14/24. Strathroy was 0 for 2 with the man advantage and Sarnia was 0 for 3 on the power play this period.
3rd Period: Only one penalty taken this period and it was a hooking minor at 3:31 to Sarnia's Kyle Gallinger but the Blast managed a successful kill. For most of this period, both teams had some great chances, but the goalie kept their teams in the game with some highlight reel saves. Once again, a goal late in the period would win the game. Scoring the game and series winning goal at 15:53 was Shaun Furlong from Jason Furlong and Tyler Carroll. The Blast would press for the equalizer for the balance of the game, having some great opportunities including a couple of wide open sides. With 64 seconds remaining and the face-off deep in Sarnia's end to the left of Faulkner, the Blast took a time out. Eventually the Blast were able to get the puck out of their own end and Faulkner made his way to the bench for an extra attacker. They had a few chances and one really good one with an open side and under five seconds to go put were unable to put the puck in the back of the net. Much to the sorrow of the Blast fans, no further scoring took place and after the Rockets saluted their fans, the two teams made their way to center ice for the traditional end-of-series handshake. Shots on goal: Strathroy - 22/43 Sarnia - 8/32. The Rockets were 1 with the man advantage this period and were 1 for 4 in the game. Sarnia had no power play chances this period and were also 1 for 4 in the game.
The Blast organization would like to thank all their fans for coming out to the games and supporting them this season. It may have ended earlier than hoped for but your support was appreciated and we hope you'll join us when the 2008-2009 season - pre- season in August and our regular season in September.
