Nationals defeat Maroons (photos)

Photos by Mike Maloney/London Community News/Twitter: mdmaloneyphoto The London Nationals seemed to have it finally all figured out at the Western Fair Sports Centre on Wednesday night (Oct. 24). Rebounding from a tough 3-2 loss at the hands of Leamington a week ago, London doubled up over Sarnia 4-2 the following night and seem to have only improved since then. Playing host to Chatham, the Nationals put together one of their better games of the season and were rewarded for their efforts, posting a 6-1 win over the Maroons. Keaton Ratcliffe opened the scoring for London just shy of the eight-minute mark of the first period with the help of teammates Aaron Dartch and Blake Thomas. Twenty seconds later, Derek Todosichuk widened that margin to a pair with his second goal of the season assisted by Connor Allison. Coming off the draw, London’s Matt Ross unfortunately managed to attract some unwanted attention from the officiating staff, collecting two minutes for slashing. Making the most of the power-play opportunity, Chatham’s Michael Verboom put one past Nationals goalie Tyler Edwards in short order to narrow the gap. That would prove though to be the lone highlight of the night for the Maroons offence. London added four more to their tally thanks to Thomas, Allison, Ryan Tuffin and Jonathan Sims while Edwards and the Nationals defence held  Chatham at bay for the remainder of the game to earn the win. London currently sits tied for third with LaSalle in the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League (GOJHL) Western Conference standings with 16 points. The Nationals play a rare Friday night game this weekend (Oct. 26) against those same LaSalle Vipers before heading off to Lambton Shores the following night to do battle with the Predators. Find us on Facebook: London Community News [gallery columns="4"]