Brenden Trottier scored five goals for the London Nationals as they beat the Chatham Maroons 9-5 Sunday night at Memorial Arena.
Austin Thompson picked up a hat trick of his own for the Maroons in the game, which concluded the regular season for both teams and they await the first round of the GOJHL playoffs. The Maroons will start Thursday night against St. Thomas Stars, while the Nationals will open the playoffs against the St. Marys Lincolns Wednesday.
Maroons head coach Ron Horvat says his team worked hard to secure the number-two seed.
"We had a couple of key games this week to get to second. The boys put a lot of pressure on themselves, did well in Sarnia, did well in St. Marys. Coming in here tonight, it's tough to get the kids geared up for it," said Horvat.
The coach says the complexity of the game changes now that the playoffs are on the horizon.
"These guys know that from here on in, it's all about the intensity," said Horvat. "It's all about the line changes, it's all about the effort on the faceoff. It's all the little things that we have to press on here now."
Fans hold up signs supporting Maroons defenceman Cory Bussing. February 26, 2017. (Photo by Matt Weverink)
The Maroons got off to two quick goals in the first period. Teddy McGeen opened the scoring for Chatham just 67 seconds into the first period. Thompson scored later in the period to make the score 2-0 Maroons. The Nationals followed with two goals of their own before the first intermission, first a power play goal from Trottier, followed by an even-strength score from Ethan Nother.
London continued scoring in the second period with three unanswered goals to begin the frame. Ian McKinnon scored within the first minute and was soon followed by Holden Murray. Trottier got his second goal of the game for the Nationals and Thompson followed suit with his for the Maroons to make the score at second intermission 5-3 London.
Trottier completed his hat trick just after the third period began with a successful penalty shot to make it 6-3 Nationals. Thompson responded exactly three minutes later and completed his own hat trick. Trottier and Murray then got two more goals for London before Jake O'Donnell lit the lamp for the Maroons. With the game already in the bag for London, Trottier got his fifth goal of the night on an empty-netter with 43 seconds left in the contest.
Trenton McGrail began the game in net for the Nationals but was pulled halfway through for Bailey DeGasperis. Together they had 33 saves. Lucas Patton took the loss between the pipes for Chatham with 24 saves.
With the Maroons' senior players being recognized before the regular season finale, Coach Horvat noticed the fond, celebratory mood in the arena.
"It was nice to see the fans come and appreciate the veteran guys here tonight, I know they really appreciated it," said Horvat. "They see their moms and dads out there, they give it an effort tonight, but it was just, it was different."