Thursday, September 13 vs. St.
Thomas
Sarnia Opens Season With a Blast of
Light and Sound
Final Score: St. Thomas - 2
Sarnia - 4
by Deb
Lawrence
Before
an announced crowd of 436, the
2007-2008 edition of the Sarnia
Blast were introduced to the crowd
with the house lights turned down.
Each player was announced and skated
out amidst flashing lights, music
and machine generated fog. When the
lighting returned to normal, the
starting goaltenders took their
spots, Chris Abbey for the
Stars and John Faulkner for
the Blast.
 |
1st Period: Both
teams made their way to
the penalty box a few
times before the Stars
got on the board with a
marker at 18:24 by Kirk
Rioux with assists to
Alex Regan and Nate
Geerlinks. Shots on
goal were 10-6 in favour
of St. Thomas. The
Stars were 0 for 2 with
the man advantage this
period and Sarnia was 0
for 3.
2nd Period: Each
team took two penalties
and just a single goal
was scored this period.
With Kirk Rioux of St.
Thomas off for tripping,
Sarnia got a power play
goal. Notching the game
at one each at the 11:16
mark was Sarnia's Tyler
Lewis and picking up
helpers were Matt
Pereira and Kyle
Gallinger.
|
Shots
on goal: St. Thomas - 17/27
Sarnia - 10/16. The Stars were 0
for 2 with the man advantage and the
Blast went 1 for 2 on the power
play.
 |
3rd Period: The
scoring was opened this
period by St. Thomas and
they regained the lead
with a power play goal.
Off for high sticking
was Alex Yardy of the
Blast at 2:34 and with
36 seconds remaining in
his penalty, Matt
Pasztor let go a shot
that trickled over
Faulkner's shoulder and
over the goal line. The
lone assist went to Chad
Barclay. It would be
the last puck that got
by Faulkner this game.
Sarnia went on an
extended 5 of 3 play
when the Stars took
three penalties in a
row. A tripping minor at
9:26 sent Chris Rocca to
the sin bin and he was
joined by Brandon
Happeney at 10:04,
giving Sarnia a two man
advantage. Coach
Abercrombie took a time
out at this point.
Sarnia tied the game
once again with a
two-man advantage power
play goal off the stick
of Matt Abercrombie.
Picking up assists were
Kyle Gallinger and
Derrek Coccimiglio.
|
A slashing minor at 13:36 sent
Sarnia's Gallinger to the sin bin,
but it was the Blast who scored with
a man short. With
three ticks left on the penalty,
Matt Abercrombie let one go from the
seated position at 15:33 and gave
his team the lead for the first time
in the game. The lone assist on
this goal went to Toby Brune.
Things got busy in the penalty box
area for the rest of the game. With
34.2 seconds remaining some scrum
took place around Faulkner as he
stopped a shot and the Stars had
pulled their goaltender for an extra
attacker. With 11 seconds
remaining, Sarnia's Toby Brune was
called for roughing and the Stars
played 6 skaters to Sarnia's three.
However, with less than a second to
go on the clock, Sarnia's Derrek
Coccimiglio let go a shot into the
empty net securing the win for his
team.
Shots on goal: St. Thomas - 9/36
Sarnia - 10/26. St. Thomas was 1 for
5 with the man advantage this period
and were 1 for 9 in the game.
Sarnia was 1 for 4 on the power play
this period and were 2 for 9 in the
game.
Three Stars
1 -
John Faulkner -- 34 saves, 2 goals
2 -
Matt Abercrombie -- 2 goals
3 -
Derrek Coccimiglio - 1g 1a
