McChesney hat trick powers Chatham past LaSalle

Ewan McChesney stole the show Wednesday night with a hat trick as the Chatham Maroons rolled to an 8–2 win over the LaSalle Vipers.

"It's nice," McChesney said about his three goal performance. "The win is big too. That was nice to get the third one. Haven't got it (hat trick) in the GOJHL, it was my first one so it was quite nice."

McChesney celebrates third period hat trick goal

Chatham came out flying, scoring twice in the first six minutes thanks to Bo Doxtator and McChesney. The Vipers answered once in the second, but goals from Drew Ferenc and Grant Symons put the Maroons firmly in the drivers seat.

LaSalle made it 4–2 early in the third, but Chatham shut the door with three unanswered—Carter Chadwick, McChesney (on the power play), and Trevor Zanutto all lighting the lamp before McChesney completed his hat trick late.

Chatham improved to 3-0 with the win and are in first in the Western Conference. They are at home for their next three games starting Thursday night against Welland. They host St. Mary's Sunday night.

"We got a couple of big tests coming up so that'll be interesting to see how we do." McChesney told Powerplay Sports.

Standouts:

• McChesney (3G)

• Chadwick (1G, now with 3 on the season)

• Geldart & Skinner (combined 6 assists)

• Zanutto (1G, 1A)

'Effort was unacceptable'

LaSalle head coach Anthony Iaquinta feels his team is disconnected and not on the same page. "It's early in the year. You hope it's one game. At the end of the day we gotta change things and change it quickly.

The Vipers were missing players but Iaquinta dismissed that as a means to lessen the blame for a blowout loss. "It doesn't matter. You gotta figure out a way to at least compete and our compete was nowhere to be found.

The Vipers head to St. Mary's Friday to take on the Lincolns who are 2-0. "At the end of the day you flip the page. It's game two of the regular season. We've had our guys for a week now. You hope they have the ability to respond. You get whacked one night and you get an opportunity a couple of nights later, that should be something everybody's excited about and something everybody is looking forward to." Iaquinta said.

LaSalle's next home game is Wednesday, September 24th against Sarnia.