Hard work and the addition of a new player to the lineup wasn't enough to get the Sarnia Legionnaires a Devil's Night victory.

Coach Jeff Perry's charges dropped a 3-1 decision to the St. Marys Lincolns in the Stone Town last night.

"Give them credit, they didn't quit,” Perry said after watching his Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League squad battle the Lincs tooth-and-nail for 60 minutes.

Perry said the fact that his club was playing its second game in two nights may have been a factor in the outcome. But he added poor execution around the net was the main reason they lost.

"Our shooting wasn't great,” he said, noting the Legionnaires squandered a number of good chances by firing the puck wide.

When they were on target, they were frustrated by the acrobatic play of goalie Marc Nother, who made 29 saves to earn first star honours.

Shawn Waldie scored for the Legionnaires late in the second period after the Lincs had built up a 3-0 lead. Waldie now has three goals and eight points since joining the team nine games ago.

Assists went to Captain Tyler Cicchini and blueliner Tanner Ferguson.

For the 16-year-old Ferguson, who is seeing a lot of action on the powerplay these days, it was his sixth helper of the season and his fifth in the last five games. For Cicchini, it was his 17^th point of the campaign.

The outcome moved the Lincs into a tie with Sarnia for third place in the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League's Western Conference. St. Marys has two games in hand.

Jake Unsworth, a 17-year-old right-winger from Petrolia who played Jr. 'C' hockey with the Alvinston Flyers last year, was in the Sarnia lineup.

"It was a difficult game to get him a lot of minutes of playing time” because there were so many penalties called, Perry said. “He's missed a lot of hockey due to injury. We're going to ease him into the lineup.”

Last year, the 5'11, 165-pound Unsworth had 11 goals, 14 assists and 98 penalty minutes in 37 games with the Flyers.

• The Legionnaires are idle until next Thursday when they host the Lambton Shores Predators at the Brock Street Barn. Game time is 7:30 p.m.

• Sarnia was one-for-11 with the extra man, while St. Marys was one-for-nine.

• Tanner Tomlinson, who missed several games with an injury, returned to action for Sarnia.

• Jesse Raymond, who was obtained in a trade from St. Marys for defenceman Josh Cornelissen, made 38 saves for the Legionnaires. Cornelissen, who was the top scoring blueliner in the conference last winter, was held off the score sheet.