Kingston Frontenacs Overcome the Sarnia Sting in a 5-3 Victory in Remembrance Day Game

By Lauren Pirie 

This past Friday, November 10th, the Kingston Frontenacs lined up to take on the Sarnia Sting for
an out-of-conference game, whilst also paying tribute to all Canadian armed forces members through their
annual remembrance day game. The electric atmosphere filled with military attendance set a phenomenal
tone for the upcoming match. Kingston started with J.J. Salajko between the pipes in his second OHL
appearance this season after suffering a loss in his first start with the Fronts.

Right out the gate, the Frontenacs set the heavy tone of offensive presence over Sarnia while they
fought off the penalty kills early in the game. Matthew Soto got the opportunity to pick up the puck at the
bottom of the circle coming off of Paul Ludwsinski’s (primary assist) and Quinton Burns's (secondary
assist) offensive play setup, leading to a quick and accurate release right through Sarnia’s goalie at 14:13.
It didn’t take the fronts long to add to their early lead as Jacob Holmes sends an electric shot on net at
16:14 on the power play carrying the Fronts to a two-goal lead. With under two seconds left in the first
Linus Hemström carried on the heavy offensive drive to land one more goal landing a 3-0 lead heading
into the second period.

The offensive presence of the first translated into the second as it only took till 4:50 for Jacob
Battaglia to pick up a quick pass from Ludwinski in the backdoor slot off a rebound, leading to the game-
winning and fourth goal of the game. Sarnia proceeds to swap their goalie out, sending in a fresh pair of
legs, though only four minutes later Matthew Soto lands the final and insurance goal of the game from a
quick release shot from the top of the left face-off dot, scraping over the goalie's shoulder to land a 5-0
lead. Late in the second, the offensive presence shifted over to Sarnia as they finally were able to score at
13:07 breaking the 5-goal lead against them. As this momentum shifted, roughing escalated in the game
with a few fights after the whistle and off the puck drop setting a new tone of aggressiveness and body-to-
body play for the third period.

Pushing into the third period the Front's offensive presence has turned into a battle of defensive
struggle as they begin getting caught in the neutral zone on the breakout, or being pressured deep into
their own zone. Sarnia stepped out the gate early in the third period with a goal at 1:15 breaking up the
goal difference to a 5-2 game. The constant defensive struggle and the inability to provide a breakout play
led to a resurgence of chances for Sarnia as they progressively developed scoring opportunities. Sarnia
was able to land one more goal against Kingston with two minutes left in the third, though it was not
enough to beat Kingston two goal lead, finishing off the game with a 5-3 win for the Frontenacs. J.J
Salajko landed his first OHL regular season win as well as third star of the game, Paul Ludwinski with
three assists landed second star, and Matthew Soto with his two-goal game picked up first star. The night
followed with an on-ice autograph session for the Canadian military attendees on their honouring night.

The Kingston Frontenacs take the road on November 15th for a 10:30 am Wednesday game
against the Ottawa 67’s. The Frontenac's next home match-up is Friday, November 17th against the
Mississauga steel heads at 7:00 pm, followed by another home game on Saturday, November 18th against
the Brantford Bulldogs at 7:00 pm.