A Four Goal Eruption In The First Sends Erie Past Sarnia 6-2
By Carl Chimenti
The Erie Otters (13-18-1-1) scored four goals in the opening period and that was enough as they beat the Sarnia Sting (10-19-3-1) 6-2 – Friday night, at the Erie Insurance Arena. The Sting with a pair of goals from Alessandro Di lorio, his six and seventh, in the second period, pulled to within two goals entering the third period. But near the end of the second period Sarnia was assessed three minors that put the Otters on a lengthy five-on-three, and Erie scored twice with the two man advantage in the first 1:06 to put the game out of reach.
Erie forward Gabriel Frasca had a big night with two goals and five points and was the first star. Michael Dec scored twice and added an assist for second star honors. Evan Headrick was the third star with a goal and an assist. Evan Maillet faced 39 shots coming in relief and stopped 36 of those shots to keep the Sting in the game. Erie out-shot Sarnia 49-25 and went 2/6 on the power play. The Sting managed one goal in four chances with the man advantage. Patrick Quinlan played 14:11 with 7 saves on 10 shots.
The Otters got goals from four different players to come away with a 4-0 lead after the first twenty minutes. Newly acquired Headrick, from Kitchener, opened the scoring with a break-away at 1:33. Michael Dec made it 2-0 at 11:04 from Frasca and Michael D’Alessio. At 14:11 Erie scored once again from Frasca, bringing an end to Sting goaltender Quinlan’s night. Headrick received the lone assist. Maillet came in relief. The Otters scored one more goal from Ritter Coombs at 17:26 from Frasca. Erie out-shot Sarnia 15-13.
Erie dominated on the shot clock 21-7, despite the fact that Sarnia scored the only two goals in the middle frame. Di lorio scored both goals. The first goal came 42 seconds in as Di lorio jammed the puck until he was able to put it past Otters goaltender Noah Erliden. Bax and Van Volsen assisted on the goal. Maillet was perfect stopping all Erie’s shots including his best save with less then two minutes remaining as he simply robbed Headrick. Di lorio scored a power-play goal 17:55. His shot from inside the blue line seemed to deflect off an Erie player in front. Young and Walos assisted on the goal.
Near the final seconds, the Sting were called for three minors forcing Sarnia to play two men short entering the third period.
