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KOMOKA – St. Marys Lincolns lost to one of the teams here Saturday night that they will likely battle with all season for a playoff spot. Lincs dropped an 8-4 decision to the home-town Kings in front of about 350 spectators. The win moves Komoka (5-10-3-1) two points ahead of St. Marys (5-11-1-1) in the Western Conference standings. After weekend action, Lincolns sit in a last-place tie with Strathroy Rockets (5-13-1-1), who lost 5-3 to the visiting Chatham Maroons Saturday. Lincs have one game in hand on the Kings, and two on the Rockets.

In Saturday’s game, Lincolns held early 1-0 and 2-1 lead before the contest was 10 minutes old. Kenny Chisholm (powerplay) and Nick Jung were the marksmen for St. Marys. Andrew Kim replied for Komoka. However, before the end of the first period, Kings took the lead for good on goals by Wes Dobbin and Isaac McLean (shorthanded). The home team tacked on two more second-period goals to take a 5-2 advantage into the final 20 minutes. Komoka goal-scorers were Joe Mazilli and Spencer Lapointe. Defenceman Dylan Nafziger’s goal early in the third pulled Lincs a little closer, before goals by the Kings’ Kyle Fisher (powerplay) and McLean put the game out of reach.

Centre Clayton Lewis (his 10th) added Lincolns’ final goal with just under four minutes to play. Mazilli completed the scoring with his second of the game, into an empty St. Marys net, with 2:48 to play. Mazilli also collected three assists for a five-point night. Jung, Tanner Hertel, Dalton Bancroft and Matt Zilke all had two points for the Lincs. Overall, Komoka out-shot St. Marys 39-22, including 32-13 over the opening 40 minutes. Lincolns started affiliate goalie Tyler Parr, from Mitchell Jr. ‘C’ Hawks. He was replaced by Tristan Lewis after Kings went up 5-2 at 13:06 of the second period. Assistant coach Rick O’Donnell admitted that Lincs didn’t play their best hockey. “I think we were a little over-confident after beating Sarnia,” O’Donnell reported. “We didn’t play our game. “Komoka is a quick team, and you can’t take anybody in this league lightly. You can’t be over-confident, and it came back to haunt us. “We’re a young team and we have to learn to play every game. There’s no easy wins. For us to be competitive, we have to play our best hockey.”

Lincolns 7 – Legionnaires 2

At the PRC Friday night, Sarnia held a 2-0 lead just past the midway point in the game, but Lincolns answered with seven consecutive goals to claim a 7-2 victory over the Legionnaires in front of about 400 fans. Coach Scott Thompson said Lincs’ first goal late in the middle frame seemed to fire up his squad and change the momentum of the contest. The powerplay goal came off the stick of rookie Dalton Bancroft with 2:34 remaining in the period. “We had no snap in our legs in the first period and for the first part of the second,” Thompson said. “When we got our first goal, it kind of lit a fire under the boys. “After that, we played our style of hockey. We kept it simple, nothing fancy, just forechecked hard, and put pucks and bodies to the net and we were rewarded with goals.” The third period was all Lincolns as they pumped six unanswered goals past Legionnaires’ goalie Blair Coffin.

Centre Clayton Lewis led the way with a pair of goals, including a shorthanded marker. The singles went to Tanner Hertel, defenceman Oliver Wieringa (shorthanded), and affiliate players Ryan Murray and Justin McIntyre (powerplay). Lewis, Hertel, Wieringa, Murray and McIntyre all finished the game with two points. Jake Vince and Josh Barraclough replied for sixth-place Sarnia (8-7-1-1).

Overall, Lincs out-shot the Legionnaires 40-27, including 30-17 over the final 40 minutes. Tristan Lewis earned the net win. “With our group this year, we just have a bunch of hard-working guys,” coach Thompson added. “We’re not overly fancy and we don’t score pretty goals. “We have to do it by committee, and be hard on pucks, and go to the net. That’s how this team is going to score and win hockey games all year. “We just have to keep our noses to the grindstone, and approach every game with a workman-like mentality. And the results will come.”

Upcoming: Lincolns have a pair of home games this weekend, hosting Strathroy Friday at 7:30 p.m. and St. Thomas Stars Sunday at 2 p.m.

Pat Payton | Sports reporter | St. Marys Journal Argus