The Sarnia Legionnaires proved from the opening face-off they weren’t ready to trade in the skates for flip-flops.

The Legionnaires exploded for five goals in the first period and went on to drub the Chatham Maroons 8-1 on Sunday night in front of an announced crowd of 1,087 fans at Memorial Arena.

The Maroon faithful came prepared to celebrate a series clinching victory at Memorial Arena, as Chatham carried a 3-1 lead in the GOHL Western Conference quarterfinal into the game.

Instead, they witnessed a complete domination by the Legionnaires, who head home for Game 6 on Thursday night.

A seventh game, if necessary, will be next Sunday at Memorial.  

Owen Rogers and Tyler Cicchini both fired three goals and added an assist to lead the Legionnaires. Chase Clark and Tanner Garrick added the other goals.

For the second straight night, the Maroons’ Gabe Gervais scored the last goal of the game.

This time, however, his goal with 3:05 left in the third period could only spoil Jesse Raymond’s shutout bid.

On Saturday in Sarnia, Gervais’ goal 1:09 into overtime gave the Maroons a 3-2 overtime win and a 3-1 series lead.

Chase, whose late penalty in regulation set the table for Gervais’ OT game-winner on Saturday, set the tone for the Legionnaires as he beat Mike Ostropolec 21 seconds into Sunday’s game.

The rout was on as Cicchini scored twice and Rogers added a shorthanded goal to give Sarnia a 4-0 lead before the 11-minute mark.

Rogers capped the first-period outburst with his second goal of the frame at 16:44 as Sarnia scored five times on 17 shots.

Rogers completed his hat trick with a power-play goal midway through the second while Cicchini netted his third of the night six minutes into the third.

Garrick upped the lead to 8-0, scoring at the 14:09 mark.

Gervais saved the Maroons the embarrassment of being shut out as he beat Raymond at the 16:55 mark.

The Legionnaires outshot the Maroons 39-24, holding the Maroons to 12 shots over the final two periods after building the five-goal lead. Ostropolec went the distance for Chatham.

All three of the top seeds lost on Sunday night, but unlike the second-seed Strathroy Rockets and fourth-seed St. Marys Lincolns, the third-seed Maroons still lead their series.

The seventh-place St. Thomas Stars blanked the Rockets 2-0 to take a 3-1 series lead while the fifth-place LaSalle Vipers ripped the Lincolns 9-2 to also go up 3-1.

The first-place London Nationals swept the eighth-place Leamington Flyers in four straight.

Stars 2 Rockets 0

At St. Thomas: Jared Richmond stopped 40 shots, including 16 in the final frame, while Brad Martin and Dave Modern scored third-period goals to move the Stars to within one win of a huge series upset.

Martin snapped the scoreless tie with a shorthanded goal at 9:37 of the third and Morden scored on a power play with 4:47 to play.

Blair Bennett made 38 saves in the Rockets’ net including 20 in the second period.

The Rockets finished with 15 more wins and 27 points ahead of the Stars.

Game 5 is Tuesday in Strathroy, where the Stars have already won twice in the series.

Vipers 9 Lincolns 2

At LaSalle: Ryan Speers scored four goals as the Vipers pushed the Lincolns to the brink of elimination.

The Vipers led 2-1 after one period and 6-1 after two.

Wallaceburg’s Seth Griffith scored the first goal for the Lincs, who host Game 5 on Tuesday.

The Vipers won 12 of their final 15 games and finished just two points behind the Lincs.