Jon Maillet For the Journal
Sarnia Legionnaires were on the road in LaSalle Wednesday night, where they were outshot 51-29, in a 4-1 loss.
Anthony Tudino started the scoring early with his sixth goal of the season, just 2:16 into the first period. Landon Marcy and Jace McGrail picked up the assists, and the Legionnaires would hold onto the 1-0 lead after the first, despite being outshot 22-7 in the opening frame.
The law of averages would catch up to the Legionnaires, as the Vipers would continue to fire a barrage of shots at goaltender Logan Phillips. LaSalle outshot Sarnia 19-10 in the second period, scoring twice to take a 2-1 lead after 40 minutes.
Stefan Djordjevic and Adrian Manzo each scored their third of the season for the Vipers. Manzo’s goal came on the man advantage.
Sarnia would struggle on the powerplay, unable to cash in on six chances, five of which came in the final period.
LaSalle would score two more in the third period — a pair of shorthanded goals about 30 seconds apart to extend their lead to 4-1. Kyle Greene scored at the 10:41 mark, his third goal this season, followed by Connor Tucker scoring his eighth goal of the season at 11:11 of the third.
With the win, the Vipers are now 8-3-0 this season and sit atop the standings in the GOJHL’s Western Conference, while Sarnia drops to 4-4-1 this season, two points ahead of the St Thomas Stars in fifth place, and trail the season series with LaSalle 2-0.
Sarnia is back home Thursday night at the Pat Stapleton Arena with another tough test — the London Nationals are in town. London comes into the game with a 7-3-0 record, just two points behind the Vipers.
This will be the second meeting this season between the Nationals and the Legionnaires, London won the first meeting 5-3 at the Western Fair sports Centre back on September 28.
Puck drops at 7:10.