Eddie Schulz scored twice as the Chatham Maroons beat the first-place London Nationals 6-2 Sunday night at Memorial Arena.
Chatham handed the Nationals their fourth straight loss, though London remains atop the GOJHL Western Conference with 40 points. The Maroons move into a second-place tie with Leamington with 33 points.
Schulz said it was their previous loss to the Flyers that helped motivate them against a talented London squad.
"We felt like we were in the game for the last seven minutes, and it almost seemed like we gave up," said Schulz. "We didn't want to transition that in the first period for this game, so did almost a full 180 today and came out flying, which is good."
The Maroons put up three in the first period alone. The first came off the stick of Nolan Gardiner at 6:18. Schulz doubled the Chatham lead at 12:24 with his first goal of the contest, then Sean O'Brien made the score 3-0 just over a minute after that.
James Turner got the Nationals on the board at just over four minutes into the middle frame, but Chatham bit back with two more goals before the second intermission. Dane Johnstone extended the Chatham lead to 4-1, then Justin Badour added to it with just 16 seconds left in the period.
Brady Elder added a goal for London at 4:05 in the third period, but Chatham got that four-goal lead back 51 seconds later with Schulz's second goal. Zachary Springer was pulled from the Nationals' goal and replaced with backup Jukka Schotter.
HEAR THE CALL ON SCHULZ'S SECOND GOAL FROM MIKE REGNIER ON COUNTRY 92.9FM / 630AM CFCO:
[audio wav="https://blackburnnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/schulz-second-goal.wav"][/audio]
Tristan Lewis picked up 25 saves in net for the Maroons. Springer and Schotter combined for 22 saves for London.
Chatham now has a week-long layoff before their next contest, but Schulz said this is not the time to go soft.
"A couple of practices and just staying light on the feet, really," said Schulz. "Maybe hit the gym a few times...especially going into the break, we don't want to drop any more like we did to Lemo [Leamington]."
The Nationals next play at home Wednesday night against Sarnia. The Maroons travel to face the Komoka Kings on Saturday. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:15 p.m. and all the action can be heard on CFCO Country 92.9FM/AM 630.
