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Legionnaires Win Four Straight
saturday september 20, 2014
By Dan McCaffery
 With the Sarnia Legionnaires short one forward, head coach Dan Rose decided last week to move defenceman Brad Campbell up front.
It was a move that would make the bench boss look like a genius on Friday night.
That's because #4 Campbell scored a hat-trick to help the Legionnaires thump the St. Thomas Stars 9-4 right in the Elgin County city.
Campbell, who scored only three goals all last season, said potting three in one night was a thrill. "Getting one goal would be nice but I'll take three," he joked.
His first marker came when he threw the puck out in front from behind the net, only to have it hit goalie Dan Black and bounce into the cage. His other two tallies came on backdoor plays.
Still, Campbell hopes to return to the defensive corps in the not-too-distant future.
"I enjoy it more," he explained. "You see more of the ice."
Rose said, "Brad is a very skilled hockey player." who is capable of playing forward or defence.
#10 Forward Cody Trowell also had a hat-trick against the Stars, giving him five goals on the campaign.
Captain Nathan Mater found the back of the net twice and Riley Roberts blinked the red light once.
Perhaps most important of all, the win gave the Legionnaires a perfect 4-0 won-lost record and lifted them in a tie for first place with the LaSalle Vipers in the Western Ontario Hockey Conference standings.
Rose
said
winning
on
the
road
after
posting
three
straight
home
victories
was
important.
In
recent
years,
he
noted,
Sarnia
has
had
trouble
winning
Friday
night
road
games.
"It was
important
to come
in here,
play
well and
get some
goals,"
he said.
He also
pointed
out
several
players
were in
on the
scoring.
In fact,
in
addition
to the
goal
scorers,
11
Legionnaires
picked
up
assists.
Rookie
defencemen
Jake
O'Donnell
and Cameron
Clarke both
had helpers,
as did
veteran
D-men P. J.
Vandervaart
and Tyler
Prong.
Up front,
forward Davis
Boyer had three
assists while
Brandon Layman,
Riley Roberts
and Bob King had
two each.
Single
assists
were
credited
to
Mater,
Ryan
Trottier
and Jay
Clarke.
Goalie
Hunter
Johnson
made 20
saves to
pick up
his
third
win.
Sarnia
had 32
shots on
net.
The
Stars
managed
to score
four
power
play
goals,
including
two with
two-man
advantages.
Sarnia,
meanwhile,
was
one-for-three
with the
extra
man.
Rose
said his
club
will
have to
work on
its
penalty
killing
in the
days
ahead.
"We're
still a
work in
progress
but
we've
got six
months
to get
it
right,"
he said.
The
Legionnaires
return
to
action
next
Thursday
when
they
host the
Lambton
Shores
Predators.
Game
time at
Sarnia
Arena is
set for
7:30
p.m.
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