Led by a pair of goals from Tyler Alexander, the St. Thomas Stars held off Strathroy 5-4 Friday night at the Joe Thornton Community Centre to open up a three-point gap over the eighth-place Rockets.
It looked like no contest after the opening 20 minutes as Tristen Roberts and Alexander (pictured at left) with his ninth of the season gave the Stars what appeared to be a comfortable 2-0 lead.
However, Strathroy dominated the middle frame and knotted the game on markers from Nigel Piercy and Caden Faulkner.
The teams traded goals in the opening five minutes of the third period as Mathieu Paris restored the Stars’ lead only to have Brandon Balazs pull Strathroy even at 3-3 less than 90 seconds later.
Tristen Gerth and Alexander with his second of the game in a span of 66 seconds pushed the Stars out front 5-3 with 13 minutes remaining.
Carson Perry pulled Strathroy to within a goal with six minutes to play. The Rockets pulled netminder Chazz Nixon with 56 seconds remaining but they couldn’t bury the equalizer behind Tyler Roberts.
The Stars have won their last two outings and have won three of five against Strathroy.
St. Thomas travels to St. Marys Sunday night to face the Lincolns, a team they have yet to beat in four encounters this season.
myFM will have all the action with Chris Soares beginning at 7:20.
