WOHL

POINTSTREAK

The Blast were on the road to begin their first of four pre-season games on Saturday evening. They were hosted by the last year's WOHL winners -- the Strathroy Rockets at the Gemini Arena and the puck dropped at the 7:30 without any National Anthem.

The starting goaltenders were Justin Roethlingshoefer for Strathroy and Matt Berglund for the Blast.

1st Period: The first period saw no scoring but Sarnia did hold the advantage in power play chances (6-1) and in shots on goal (19-11). The Rockets took the first three penalties in the game and the first two resulted in 1:19 of 5 on 3 play in favour of the Blast.  Going off at 3:16 for hooking was Mark Aris and joining him at 3:57 was Justin Fraser.  A five minute charging major, along with a game misconduct, was given to Kyle Moore and serving the major was Andrew Secco.  Sarnia's Kyle Gallinger was given two minutes for tripping at the 14:45 mark and during that time Sarnia had a great chance at scoring a short-handed marker, but the Rocket's goalie made the stop.  A hooking minor at 16:32 sent Michael Lewis of Strathroy to the sin bin.  Offsetting minors with 1:15 remaining in the period sent Strathroy's Brady Vandenberk (holding) and Sarnia's Brent Andriash (unsportsmanlike conduct) off for a two minute cooling period.  With 8 ticks left on the shot clock, Mark Aris of Strathroy was called for hooking.

2nd Period:   It wasn't until the two minute mark of the second period that Sarnia opened the scoring with a Tyler Cicchini goal from Wayd Pitfield and Jon Conrad.  Sarnia's Brad Hurlock went off 22 seconds later for interference and it led to Strathroy scoring their first goal, a power play marker at the 3:18 mark. Scoring it was Joey Beauchamp from Andrew Secco and Walter Easter. A string of penalties took place before another goal was scored and it began a with a slashing minor at 4:41 to Sarnia's Brent Andriash.  Joining him at 5:36 was Strathroy's Coulter Cahill who received two minutes for interference.  High sticking was the call at 6:35 and off to serve it was Alex Yardy of the Blast. Offsetting minors at 8:02 sent Brett Lashbrook (high sticking) and Sarnia's Kyle Gallinger (roughing) to the sin bin. With the teams playing four a side, Patrick Easter of Strathroy notched the go ahead goal at the 8:59 mark with an assist to Walter Easter. Before play resumed, Scott Stafford of the Blast made his way to the penalty box to serve a roughing minor. The teams made a goal tending change with 8:59 remaining and between the pipes for Strathroy was Ben Thomas and for Sarnia was John Faulkner.  The Rockets took two more penalties to complete the period.  Going off at 14:35 for roughing was Brady Vandenberk and then at 17:17 it was a hooking minor that sent Joey Beauchamp to the sin bin.  Strathroy was 1 for 4 with the man advantage this period while Sarnia went 0 for 2. Strathroy outshot the Blast, 17-15 this period.

3rd Period:  Sarnia began the period with two penalties in a row, the first a roughing minor at 4:43 to Owen Rogers and then a tripping call at 7:29 sent Tyler Cicchini to the sin bin.  A double high sticking minor at 10:19 sent Strathroy's Dan Chadwick to the penalty box and Sarnia notched the game at two each with a power play goal of their own. Tying the game at the 11:16 mark was Derrek Coccimiglio with an assist picked up by Toby Brune. Offsetting penalties were handed out at 13:17 to Strathroy's Andrew McCombe and to Kyle Gallinger of the Blast. Sarnia took the lead for the second time in the game at 13:26 with a marker off the stick of Scott Stafford who roofed one over a sprawled Ben Thomas. A slashing call at 14:45 sent Owen Roger of the Blast to the penalty box.  Joining him at the 15:20 mark was Cody Johnson of the Rockets. The teams were playing four a side and Strathroy's Patrick Easter scored an unassisted goal to tie the game at three apiece at the 15:50 mark. Strathroy got a final chance to win the game during the final minute of play when Sarnia was called for too many men at 19:03, but Faulkner and company would not surrender anything further and the game ended a tie. Strathroy was 0 for 4 with the man advantage this period and were 1 for 9 in the game. Sarnia was 1 for 3 on the power play this period and were 1 for 11 in the game. Strathroy put 12 shots on goal this period for a total of 40. Sarnia put 18 shots this period for a game total of 52.

1st Period:  In this 20 minutes of play Strathroy took a 3-0 lead into the dressing room. The first penalty of the game was a high sticking call at 1:51 to Alex Yardy of the Blast.  The Rockets opened with a goal at 4:14 off the stick of Joey Beauchamp from Walter Easter and Jason Furlong. Sarnia went on the power play at 4:26 when Joey Beauchamp was called for boarding and was joined 28 seconds by team mate Owen Rogers and Strathroy's Zac Hodgins, who each received two minutes for roughing.  Another Sarnia penalty, a slashing minor at 7:56 sent Owen Rogers to the sin bin and it resulted in a power play goal at the 8:46 mark off the stick of Jason Furlong.  The lone assist went to Joey Beauchamp.  At 9:18, Matt Pereira of Sarnia was in the sin bin as he was given a minor and a 10 minute misconduct for a head check and 19 seconds later, Strathroy's Kraig Wright made it 3-0.  The period finished with four more penalties.  At 14:01 it was roughing after the whistle and serving two minutes was James McFarlane of Strathroy.  A two minute minor for checking from behind at 15:51 also netted a game misconduct for Alex Yardy of the Blast.  His minor was served by Derrek Coccimiglio.  Holding was the call at 18:12 that sent Coulter Cahill to the sin bin and was the same minor that sent Sarnia's Brent Andriash to the the penalty box with under 1 second left in the period. Shots on goal: Strathroy - 16 Sarnia - 11. Strathroy was 2 for 5 with the man advantage and Sarnia was 0 for 3 on the power play this period.

2nd Period:  In the second period, only one goal was scored and it was an unassisted marker at 3:42 by Toby Brune of the Blast.  Prior to the goal, offsetting high sticking minors were handed out to Joe Pikul of Strathroy and Jon Conrad of the Blast. Another pair if offsetting penalties were called at 3:56 and serving two minutes each were Brandon Babbage (Strathroy) and Owen Rogers (Sarnia). A bit of scrum led to more penalties at the 6:20 mark, and off for a break went Strathroy's Kyle Greenside (hooking) and Kraig Wright (slashing and a 10 minute misconduct) and Sarnia's Owen Rogers (slashing and a 10 minutes misconduct).  Slashing was called again and going off at 7:36 to join the others was Chris McGuffin of the Blast. With 10:13 remaining in the period, each team made a goaltender change -- Strathroy to Michael Slaats and Sarnia to Mark Pereira. There were two more penalties called this period and both were to the Blast.  Going off at 15:54 for hooking was Matt Pereira and then 63 seconds later he was joined by Jon Crad. Shots on goal: Strathroy - 16/32 Sarnia - 8/19. Strathroy was 0 for 3 with the man advantage and Sarnia was 0 for 1 on the power play this period.

3rd Period:  Strathroy opened the scoring with Kraig Wright marker at 2:41 with assists to Andrew Secco and Kyle Greenside.   Offsetting penalties were taken at shortly after the goal and getting a two minute breather were Brandon Babbage (interference) of Strathroy and Owen Rogers (holding) of the Blast.  Sarnia's Kyle Gallinger took a two minute minor at 4:20 for interference and it led to  a power play goal at 5:06 by Eric Beauchamp from Kyle Greenside and Mark Aris. Marker number six came for the Rockets at 9:21 and was scored by Brett Lashbrook with assists to Coulter Cahill and Kraig Wright. Sarnia's Chris McGuffin responded with the final Blast goal just 36 seconds later, with an assist picked up by Matt Abercrombie. Some roughing after the whistle took place at 13:28 with offsetting minors to Wright of Strathroy and to Derrek Coccimiglio of the Blast while Owen Rogers of the Blast receiving his third stick minor and an automatic game ejection. Strathroy scored again with the man advantage and it took 33 seconds before Joey Beauchamp potted the 7th and final Rocket goal.  Picking up assists were Kyle Greenside and Walter Easter.  Interference was the call at 15:29 that sent Jon Conrad of the Blast to the sin bin.  The only tilt of the game featured Carter Gray of the Rockets and Sarnia's Matt Pereira.  Each received the usual five minutes for fighting and a game misconduct.  With 1:56 remaining, Strathroy's Eric Beauchamp flattened out Sarnia's Toby Brune and in the process picked up a five minute cross checking major and a game misconduct.  The major was served by Justin Fraser.  Sarnia enjoyed the man advantage until the 19:13 mark when Marco Ruggero was called for tripping. Shots on goal: Strathroy - 16/48 Sarnia - 4/23. Strathroy was 2 for 3 with the man advantage this period and went 4 for 11 in the game. Sarnia was 0 for 1 with their power play this period and were 0 for 5 in the game.

Goalie stats
Strathroy: Bennett - 16 saves, 1 goal; Slaats - 5 saves, 1 goal.
Sarnia: Faulkner - 15 saves, 3 goals; Pereira - 26 saves, 4 goals.

Penalties/Minutes:
Strathroy - 14/40; Sarnia - 17/61