Last week in LaSalle, 20 minutes of solid hockey was enough to earn the St. Thomas Stars a 5-4 win over the Vipers.
Tonight in Sarnia, a period of workmanlike effort was enough to get them within a goal of the Legionnaires only to have the Stars fade in the third period and drop a 5-2 decision.
The loss comes on the heels of a 4-3 loss to Komoka last Friday.
Putting together 60 minutes of solid effort still eludes the Stars who, with the loss, remain mired in seventh place three points in arrears of St. Marys.
In reality, Sarnia locked this game up in the opening period, jumping out to a 2-0 lead before the three-minute mark on goals from Ryan Richardson and Brayden Krueger.
Brayden Degelas scored with 13 seconds remaining in the period to give the Legionnaires a 3-0 margin.
To be fair, the Stars made a game of it in the middle stanza as Nick Houben and Ben MacRobbie, with his ninth of the season, pulled St. Thomas to within a goal. Houben picked up an assist on the latter’s tally.
But a pair of goals from Ryder Nienhuis, including an empty-netter, put Sarnia back in the driver’s seat, in the process pulling the cellar-dwellers to within a point of the eighth-place Strathroy Rockets.
Owen Willmore was in net for St. Thomas, stopping 31 of 35 shots. It was the sixth loss of the season for the St. Thomas native.
Veteran netminder Nolan DeKoning earned the win for Sarnia. He has been between the pipes for all four Legionnaire wins this year.
The Stars are right back at it Friday night in a 7:30 p.m. start against fifth-place Chatham at the Joe Thornton Community Centre.
