DeKoning Leads Legionnaires to Third Straight Win
SATURDAY JANUARY 30, 2016
COMMUNITY NEWS
By DAN McCAFFERY
Rookie Alec DeKoning's dandy
second period goal lifted the
Sarnia Legionnaires to a
come-from-behind 6-4 victory
over the Lambton Shores
Predators Saturday.
The 17-year-old forward accepted
a crafty backhand pass from Ryan
Vendramin before bursting into
the clear and beating Preds
netminder Keegan Paulette from
point blank range.
The tally, which was easily the
prettiest of the night by either
squad, went into the books as
DeKoning's 8th of the campaign.
It was also his second game
winner of the season.
DeKoning, a Sombra native, also
had an assist in the second
period when he set up
Vendramin's 20th goal of the
year.
"It wasn't pretty, but we
outshot them big-time,” Sarnia
coach Mark Davis said. “We
couldn't score in the first
period and they got two
questionable goals. Even Hughesy
(Legionnaires goalie Aidan
Hughes) knew they were
questionable. But he settled
down after that and made some
good saves.”
For the contest as a whole,
Sarnia outshot Lambton Shores
52-39.
With the victory the Legion crew
improved its record to
20-16-2-3. Perhaps more
important, the two points lifted
the Sarnians into a tie for
fifth place in the nine-team
Western Jr. 'B' loop with the
LaSalle Vipers. However, the
Essex County team has three
games in hand on the
Legionnaires.
For a long time, it didn't
appear that Sarnia would get
anything out of the contest.
In fact, the Preds jumped into a
2-0 lead, thanks to first period
goals by Cole Braney and Marcel
Berule. They also enjoyed leads
of 3-2 and 4-3 in the second
period.
But the Legionnaires came out on
fire in the middle frame,
pumping a staggering 27 shots on
net. They scored five times
during that flurry and would
have had several more if not for
the stellar play of goalkeeper
Paulette.
Jordan Fogarty had two goals
(his 16th and 17th) with the
others going to defenceman Brad
Yowart (his 10th), Vendramin and
DeKoning.
Joey Zappa added an empty net
goal late in the third period to
seal the deal. For Zappa, who
did a great job of penalty
killing, it was his second of
the season.
Game notes
-
The win was
Sarnia's third in a row.
-
Ethan Sarfati
and Carson Pearce had the
Preds other goals.
-
The
Legionnaires were 2-for-5
with the man advantage while
Lambton Shores was 1-for-5.
-
Sarnia
returns to action tonight
(Sunday, Jan. 31) with a
game in Strathroy.
-
The
Legionnaires were missing
P.J. Vandervaart and Captain
Hunter Tyczynski (both
injured) and Brock Perry
(suspended).