Flyers edge Stars, whip Sarnia 10-2

By C. Scott Holland

After two tough consecutive losses, the Leamington Flyers got back into the win column thanks to a second period rally allowing them to grab a 3-2 victory over the St. Thomas Stars. Then on Saturday night in a game played at Sarnia, the Flyers drubbed the Legionnaires 10-2.

Thursday’s home game was a speedy game that was completed in an hour and 53 minutes in front of 275 fans at the Highbury Canco rink.

In the opening period, the Flyers fired 18 shots at Stars’ starter Owen Willmore, who stopped them all.

The Flyers found themselves down 1-0 courtesy of a Mathieu Paris shot that sailed high over Flyers’ starter Boe Piroski’s glove late in the period.

All the game’s penalties – which were very few – came prior to the midway point. Leamington took three minors while St. Thomas had two. Neither side tabbed goals on their respective powerplays.

Head coach Dale Mitchell was thrilled with his team’s first period performance.

“I was really happy with our first period,” he said. “We came out strong and played the right way despite coming out of it down 1-0. We out-chanced them 9-1.”

Flyer Kale Couvillon comes to a rather abrupt stop and falls upon Stars’ goalie Owen Willmorre in the first period of last Thursday night’s game here.

Scott Holland photo

Midway through the second, Ben McRobbie gave the Stars a short-lived 2-0 lead before the Flyers regrouped. Gabe Piccolo took a pass from Colton O’Brien and banked the puck behind Willmore to cut the lead to 2-1. At 18:58, Wyatt O’Neil and Piccolo fed O’Brien who blasted a shot that struck a post and bounced into the net to knot the contest.

For Coach Mitchell, that second period was not the same as the first.

“St. Thomas outplayed us and we were not working as we did in the first,” he said. “However, hockey can have strange twists of fate and we managed to score and even things up.”

In the third period the Flyers’ defense kept the Stars’ offensive bursts at bay.

Only 2:29 had elapsed when Gavin Grundner and Conner MacPherson weaved their magic and found Ryan MacPherson open in the slot. Ryan wasted no time and fired the puck past Willmore to vault Leamington into a 3-2 lead. The rest of the way the Flyers protected Piroski and held on as the Stars’ pulled their goalie and applied pressure in the last 90 seconds.

Saturday night the Flyers traveled to Sarnia and whipped the Legionnaires 10-2 as Ryan Polidori made 41 saves. After surging ahead 5-1 in the first, there was little doubt that Leamington would gain the two points.

Of the 10 markers, the Flyers had nine different players notch goals. Gabe Piccolo fired a pair, while Kale Couvillon, Gavin Grundner, Connor MacPherson, Connor McCracken, Ryan Blackburn, Darby Lemieux, Blake McNally and Noah Prudhomme slotted one each.

The Flyers would like to remind their fans that the Thurs., Dec. 16 contest will be their night to gather touques, mittens and scarves for the area’s needy children. Please put all items in a plastic bag and throw them on the ice when the Flyers score their first goal of the game (vs Komoka). This event takes the place of the former teddy bear toss. All clothing will be distributed, thanks to the local Toys 4 Tots program.

Schedule: Thurs. Dec. 16 vs Komoka Kings at 7:10 pm and Sun. Dec. 19 vs Sarnia at 2:10 pm