Flyers top LaSalle

By C. Scott Holland

LEAMINGTON — What a difference a week makes, especially if you are watching the Leamington Flyers.

Last Thursday night, Sept. 16, the Flyers completed the home portion of their exhibition season by beating the LaSalle Vipers 5-3, then travelled to Chatham on Sunday, where they lost a heartbreaker 5-4.

They will open the 2021/22 season on the road on Friday, Sept. 24 against the St. Marys Lincolns and then have their home opener on Thursday, Sept. 30 versus the LaSalle Vipers.

Anytime the Flyers play the Vipers, hard work is part of the key to a gaining a victory.

The addition of defenseman Colton O’Brien, forward Wyatt O’Neil and goalie Ryan Polidori helped bolster the team. But it wasn’t only the experience and leadership offered by these three, there were spirited plays provided by Ryan and Connor MacPherson, Nolan McKibbin, Gabe Piccolo and Gavin Grundner. It was a good group effort, as every player in the lineup contributed.

The contest featured plenty of good body-checking and occasional miscues but it was Leamington’s two goaltenders who showed the fans why the Flyers will be a highly competitive team.

Vet Ryan Polidori started, and midway through the contest Boe Piroski came in to show his talent. Polidori stopped 14 of 16 shots, while Piroski sparkled halting 7 of 8 in the 5-3 win.

The Vipers attacked the Flyers immediately out of the gate, and near the three-minute mark, Andrew Potevski put La- Salle ahead with a close shot while standing near Polidori’s doorstep.

The Vipers pressured the Flyers and appeared to have scored a second marker at 6:45, but the goal was negated.

The Flyers’ offense jumped into gear at 14:10 when Gabe Piccolo hooked a pass to Connor MacPherson. MacPherson riveted a right lane shot that slipped past Viper goalie Nicholas Bolton. About 90 seconds later, Wyatt O’Neil found Gavin Grundner who blasted a shot that rose high and beyond Bolton’s outstretched glove and the Flyers had a 2-1 edge.

That lead didn’t last long, however, as time was running out in the opening frame. Viper Drew Booker tabbed the tying goalie on a scramble play around the net.

The game’s physicality escalated in the second as both teams showed their hitting abilities. But the Flyers’ ability to play smart defensive hockey, along with crisp passing and some timely shooting, vaulted them into a 4-2 lead.

At 14:23, Seth Martineau and Sylvain Lessard gave Connor McCracken a shot on net and McCracken unleashed a rocket which bounced off Bolton’s goalie stick and into the net, returning the Flyers’ lead.

On the heels of that play, Grundner set up Ryan Blackburn who tucked the Flyers’ fourth tally into an open right side.

Early in the third, the Vipers applied pressure as Brody Gillis’ shot sailed over Piroski’s glove, but that was the extent of the damage the Vipers would do. Things got a bit testy a few times during the reminder of the game, but nothing more than a couple minor coincidentals were handed out.

The Flyers tabbed an insurance goal at 11:40 when O’Neil and Blackburn set up Koen Taves’ long drive.

The Vipers lifted Bolton for an extra attacker with 45 seconds left, but were unable to penetrate the Flyers zone for any length in order to generate any output.

Compared to the effort from the opening exhibition, the Flyers are making good progress and are starting to gel as a cohesive unit. Puck control and creativeness once again are main features of this year’s team. How good they will be is yet unknown but these early indications are they will be hard to beat in their own arena.

In Chatham on Sunday afternoon, the Flyers played a superb first half and suffered mainly because of a defensive lapse after the game’s halfway point. The final was 5-4 in Chatham’s favour.

During that five minute span, they allowed the Maroons three goals that cost them the lead. Ryan Polidori started and his teammates had built a convincing 3-1 lead thanks to a strong defensive effort which included plenty of bodychecking. But Boe Piroski faced an onslaught of Chatham pressure upon entering the contest and did not get much initial defensive support. He surrendered three goals and a fourth during the game’s final minute. That last marker stood as the eventual game-winner.

Scoring for the Flyers were Ryan MacPherson, who tabbed the first two, Connor MacPherson and Gavin Grundner who got the tying tally at 14:55 of the third.

Cam Symons’ hattrick paced the Maroons, while Evan Wells and Connor Paronuzzi fired singles. Symons’ third was Chatham’s fifth for a 5-4 final.