The LaSalle Vipers dropped a Family Day game to the London Nationals, in what was a key late season contest on Monday afternoon in London.
LaSalle got off to a great start in the first period, getting goals by Patrick McManus and Spencer Lecot to hold a 2-0 lead through 20 minutes of play. Things changed drastically in the second period however, as the Nationals turned the tide completely, scoring five times in the midde frame. Cole Davis scored a penalty-shot to at one point restore the Vipers two-goal cushion early in the period, but the home side would go on to score four times in a five-minute span to take a 5-3 lead into the second intermission.
Lucas Chard scored shorthanded at 5:43 of the third period to extend London’s lead to three, before Davis tallied his second of the game with a shorthanded marker of his own at 11:38. That would be the last scoring play of the day, which meant the Nationals left the ice with a 6-4 victory. The poor second period and some undisciplined play was the Vipers undoing in the defeat.
While still a possbility, the loss all but ended the team’s chances to pass London for second-place in the Western Conference, and made it more difficult to catch the third-place St. Marys Lincolns. The Vipers and Lincolns will meet on Wednesday night in LaSalle in the team’s second of a four-game week to conclude their regular-season schedule. They will need to beat the Lincolns, win their following remaining two games, and then hope Leamington beats St. Marys on Friday in order to overtake the Lincolns.
Wednesday’s key game against St. Marys is scheduled for 7:00 PM at the Vollmer Complex.
