The LaSalle Vipers dropped both of their games this past week, with both games being decided by one goal.
On Wednesday night in LaSalle, the St. Thomas Stars erased a 4-1 deficit in the third period by scoring four unanswered goals in a 10-minute span. Paterson McNair’s goal at 14:23 of the third came just 12 seconds after the Stars tying goal and was the difference in a 5-4 come from behind victory for the visitors.
Vipers forward Ethan Hamelin, playing in his first game of the season, opened the scoring early in the first and was followed by goals from Nic Pavia and Noah Morneau. Stephane Crevier’s late second period tally gave LaSalle the 4-1 lead, but they would not score again through the third period collapse. Ethan Dagenais took the loss in what was his second start of the season.
Looking to get back on track on Sunday afternoon in Chatham, the Vipers again jumped out to a multi-goal lead on a pair of shorthanded goals in the first period from Noah Morneau and Nic Pavia. The Maroons however turned the tide in the second and tied the game on goals from former Viper Issac LeGood and captain Lucas Fancy. A slew of penalties disrupted the flow of the game and kept LaSalle from executing their five-on-five gameplan.
The score remain locked at 2-2 until Fancy finished off some nice Maroons passing for his second of the night. The Vipers couldn’t generate enough to trouble goaltender Luka Dobrich for the rest of the period and Chatham held on for the 3-2 victory on home ice. Matt Tovell was outstanding in the LaSalle crease, stopping 40 shots for the second time this season to keep his team in the game.
The two losses dropped the Vipers down in the standings where they sit in third-place with an overall record of 9-4-0-1 and 19 points. They will be in tough to hold on to that position as their lone game on the week comes on Wednesday night when they make their first trip of the season to London to take on the second-place Nationals.
