Flyers Win 5-4 In Shootout Over LaSalle

Posted By C. Scott Holland

Posted 3 months ago

Pink may become the new Flyers color, especially after they beat their Essex County rival the LaSalle Vipers here Thursday.

The occasion was "Pink On The Rink" and the Leamington Flyers wore pink sweaters to help support fundraising for breast cancer. Sue and Nikki Scaddan and Deb Jones-Chambers, three of the organizers for this year's second annual event were thrilled with the generosity of the 400 attending the contest. Although exact figures weren't known, in excess of $1,500 had been raised during last Thursday night's game.

During the contest the Flyers played with confidence and a poise and head coach Greg Trojand said afterwards, "I'm proud of the way our guys are playing. We've got the players who want to play here and it's a tribute to them that they've put those bad games behind them. Tonight they played hard and didn't get down after LaSalle grabbed the lead."

Trojand also was happy with the way his lines have come together and reacted at various points in the game. "We're on a two-game roll and we're showing improvement."

Starting goalie Kyle Andrian played well by making 42 saves and admitted, "It was good to be back in net and have our team play well in front of me."

LaSalle's Patrick Murphy gave the opposition a 1-0 lead midway through the first on a bullet shot from Andrian's right side.

But the Flyers offense got ignited by Marco Canzoneri who took the handiwork of Sean St. Louis and Tyler Raymont, went on a breakaway then deked LaSalle goalie Trevor Besse for the goal. With 18 seconds left in the first, Cheyne Matheson tried beating Besse from the left side, then collected his own rebound and backhanded it into the wide open right side of the net for a 2-1 Flyers' lead.

LaSalle's Drew Palmer netted a natural hattrick in the second and ended the game with four goals including one in the shootout.

Palmer struck from both the right and left side and had a breakaway shot bounce in after Andrian got a piece of it.

But unlike recent games where being down 4-2 was a problem for the Flyers, they rallied to get within one goal before the second period ended.

Captain Steve Kruk and Nick Butts sent Matheson on a breakaway and Matheson didn't disappoint the crowd as he unleashed a low liner that sizzled past Besse.

Down 4-3 in the third the Flyers held off LaSalle and managed to even the score. At 11:23, Matheson sent Dylan Solecki down the right lane and Solecki drilled the puck into the top corner to tie the score.

Only four penalties were whistled during the entire game and two of those were coincidental 10 minute misconducts.

Leamington's one minor penalty came during the final two minutes of play, but Andrian and his Flyers teammates stood their ground and kept LaSalle from notching the game-winner, then killed the penalty in the five-minute overtime period.

In the shootout, LaSalle's Sammy Banga took a shot that was stopped by Andrian and Palmer fired his fourth tally of the night. Meanwhile, Flyers rookie Jon Woelk began the shootout by deking Besse and scoring the first goal.

Kyle Bowman was second up and cannoned a low shot that eluded Besse for a 2-1 shootout lead.

Trevor Crevatin began the third shootout round and rifled a shot into the top corner of the LaSalle net to end the shootout and give the Flyers a home-ice victory.

On the goal Crevatin said, "It was great to have the chance; I looked to shoot for the upper corner and I'm just glad I scored."

NOTES: Fans, Flyers' stag tickets (Nov. 20) are available from club members ...this week the Flyers will play two home games - one on Thursday and one Saturday night ...A hearty welcome is extended to our newest Flyer players # 7 Koddi Quuick, # 15 Jon Woelk, and # 20 Brendon Anger. SCHEDULE: Thurs. Nov. 12 - vs London Nationals 7:10 pm Sat. Nov. 14 - vs Sarnia Legionnaires 7:10 pm