By Dan McCaffery
file photos
The Sarnia Legionnaires
have made it to the
Western Ontario Hockey
Conference semi-finals.
Coach Dan Rose's club
reached the second round
of the post season
Friday with a 5-4 win
over the St. Thomas
Stars.
"The boys battled hard
from start to finish,"
Rose said. “They wanted
to end it tonight
because anything can
happen in a Game Seven.
You could hit a lot of
posts or get beat by a
hot goalie."
The victory, which came
on the road, allowed the
Sarnians to eliminate
the Elgin County squad
four games to two.
After the game, Rose
singled out defencemen
Tyler Prong and Jake
O'Donnell for praise.
He also predicted the
team will tighten up its
play as it moves deeper
into the playoffs. Some
of the St. Thomas goals,
he noted, were the
resulted of mental
lapses by his charges.
Captain Nathan Mater
said the Legionnaires do
not care who they face.
He added the players are
determined to keep
winning because they
haven't proven anything
yet.
But in fact Mater and
his teammates have shown
they can handle
adversity.
St. Thomas, it should be
pointed out, led the
series 2-1 in games as
recently as five days
ago.
The Legionnaires
responded by winning
three in a row,
including two in St.
Thomas.
Quick Stars start
On Friday, the Stars
struck first, with
Andrew Chambers scoring
in the opening frame.
But before the period
ended, Jay Clarke netted
his first goal of the
playoffs to tie the
contest. Clarke drove
hard to the net and
redirected a nice pass
from Hunter Tycynski to
send the teams into the
intermission deadlocked
at 1-1.
The Legionnaires took
command in the middle
frame, with Ryan
Vendramin and Riley
Babkirk registering
unassisted tallies.
Vendramin's goal, his
second of the playoffs,
was a beauty. The big
forward stole the puck
in the St. Thomas zone
and beat goalie Braden
Polasek with a shot that
caught the top corner on
the glove side.
After Babkirk made it
3-1, Polasek was pulled
in favour of netminder
Nik Damphier.
St. Thomas responded
with a shorthanded
strike from Brett Van
Dusen.
But Cameron Clarke fired
a rocket launcher from
the point during a
Sarnia power play to
restore the two-goal
lead.
Still, the Stars
wouldn't give up and
Matt McJannet got them
close before the second
period came to an end.
Powerplay winner
Davis Boyer netted the
winner during a third
period power play,
poking home a loose puck
in the crease.
Josh Huston rounded out
the scoring for St.
Thomas.
Andrew Masters made 24
saves to pick up the
win. Masters, who won
only two games in four
months with St. Marys,
now has 11 victories in
less than two months
with the Legionnaires.
Sarnia scored twice on
seven power play
opportunities, St.
Thomas went one for six.
The Legionnaires will
face either the Chatham
Maroons or the LaSalle
Vipers in the next
round. Chatham and
London are battling it
out for the remaining
spot. Currently,
the Nats lead the
Maroons 3-2 in games.
Sarnia will know by
Sunday night at the
latest who its next
opponent will be.
The Vipers are already
guaranteed a spot in the
Final Four, along with
Sarnia and Leamington.
