William Stadder collected a hat trick as the Essex 73s beat the Blenheim Blades Sunday night 7-2 at Blenheim Memorial Arena, maintaining their lead in the PJHL Stobbs Division standings.
The 73s set the tone of the game with four unanswered goals in the first period alone. Michael Vieira started the scoring wave at 2:22 into the opening frame, followed by Stadder's first goal at 11:05, on the power play. Eric Shaw made the score 3-0, then Stadder got an unassisted goal to make the score four-nil going into the first intermission.
The Blades got on the board to start the scoring in the second period as Keir Cumming lit the lamp at 1:09, on the power play. The 73s added two more goals, the first from Shaw, the second from Dallas Pereira. Cumming ended up accounted for all the Blenheim scoring on the night, depositing his second goal in the net at 10:37 to cut the Essex lead to 6-2 after 40 minutes of play.
Stadder scored the only goal of the third period to complete the hat trick. Jax Dhont was the winning goalie for the 73s, turning away 19 of Blenheim's 21 shots on goal.
Essex welcomes Amherstburg on Tuesday night in the 73s' last game before the holiday break. The Blades travel to Wallaceburg Thursday night.
*******
Michael Hatch scored an empty-net goal with 11 seconds remaining in regulation as the Amherstburg Integrity Admirals beat the Wheatley Omstead Sharks 3-2 Sunday at the Libro Centre.
It was the 11th straight win for the Admirals, who remain three points behind Essex in the Stobbs Division standings.
It was a perfect first period for both teams, with no scoring and no trips to the penalty box. The Admirals' Ryan Alexander broke the scoreless tie at 6:59 in the second period. Wheatley would respond with a power play goal from Delaney MacDonald at 9:53 in the frame, but Amherstburg would regain the lead before second intermission when Caleb Paquette scored.
Wheatley's Jake Pickersgill would knot things up again in the third period, but Hatch's late period empty-netter would put another one in the win column for the Admirals.
Catalin Morin faced 24 shots in goal for Amherstburg, knocking away 22 of them. Daniel Tonietto stopped 34 of the Admirals' 36 shots for the Sharks.
Wheatley will host the Mooretown Flags Monday night while Amherstburg travels to Essex for a key matchup Tuesday night.
