Lightning win opener; Knights overtake first; FC London awards

Gameday in 5: A look to the week ahead — and a recap of the week that was (Nov. 18-24) — for London’s teams and athletes.

Defender Ryan Baker is one of multiple FC London award winners for the 2024 season. (Photo: Barry Field Photography).

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London Knights

A trio of one-goal wins — in three days — extended London’s win streak to an impressive 15 games and moved them into first place in the entire OHL.

The Knights got their weekend rolling with a last-minute come-from-behind shootout victory over Owen Sound at Canada Life Place Friday night. Trailing 3-1 late in the third period, London got a pair of goals with their goalie pulled. First, Kasper Halttunen scored at the 18:38 mark to narrow the lead. Then, Oliver Bonk potted a game-tying score (assists to Denver Barkey and Sam Dickinson). After a scoreless overtime period, the teams went to a shootout, where the Knights’ Jacob Julien scored the winner in the fifth round. London goalie Austin Elliott stopped four of five shootout attempts and earned the win.

On Saturday, on a road trip to Saginaw, the Knights kept their win streak going with a 6-5 decision against the Spirit. This time, it was the opposition that attempted a comeback. With the Knights ahead 3-2 after two periods, a trio of third-period goals, from Jesse Nurmi, William Nicholl and Sam O’Reilly had London ahead by four with under nine minutes left in the contest. But Saginaw nearly fought their way back. Three goals of their own, in a span of less than five minutes, brought them to within one. But they ran out of time and London won their 14th in a row.

And then the Knights made it 15 wins in a row Sunday — with their second shootout victory of the weekend. This time it came against the visiting Ottawa 67s, and it required six rounds of shooters. In regulation, Logan Hawery put London up 1-0 in the first period. After a scoreless second, Ottawa tied things up with less than seven minutes in the contest. Overtime was required, and it came and went without a goal. Austin Elliott stopped five of the six shots he faced, and Sam O’Reilly scored the winner in round six for the Knights.

Up next:

Thurs. Nov. 28 (7:05pm @ Peterborough Petes)
Fri. Nov. 29 (7:00pm @ Kingston Frontenacs)
Sun. Dec. 1 (2:00pm @ Ottawa 67s)

London Lightning

A new season, with a new coach and several new players, got off to a good start for the London Lightning Saturday, as they came back from a 10-point halftime deficit to beat the Sudbury Five, 123-119, on the road.

After opening strong, outscoring the Five 28-21 in the first quarter, the Lightning allowed the home side to take over in the second, as Sudbury produced a 17-point swing and entered the locker room at halftime leading 55-45. But it was London who won the second half, first by putting up 37 points in a big third quarter, and then tallying another 41 in the final quarter to hold on for the win.

Chris Jones had a monstrous fourth quarter, scoring 20 of his 29 points in the frame to lead London to victory. The point guard also recorded five rebounds, three assists and three steals in the contest. Newcomer Paul Parks was big off the bench for the visitors, pouring in 25 points on 9-of-13 shooting. Billy white and Jachai Taylor both finished with 17 points, while Corey Boyd led the squad in rebounding with seven boards.

Now, the Lightning will have a long layoff before their next scheduled game. Due to issues with their ticketing system, the first three home games have been pushed to later in the season. As a result, the team won’t play its home opener until Dec. 8 now, a game already on the schedule (Windsor at 2pm).

Meanwhile, catch up on the Lightning roster, which was named last Thursday, and read our Five things to watch for in the Lightning’s second season in the BSL, as they try to defend their championship title from last spring.

Up next:

Sun. Dec. 8 (2:00pm vs. Windsor Express)
Wed. Dec. 11 (7:00pm vs. KW Titans)
Fri. Dec. 13 (7:00pm @ Windsor Express)

FC London

Strong seasons from both FC London’s men’s and women’s top teams have resulted in several players earning end-of-season awards from League1 Ontario.

Last week, on the men’s side, Luka Palajsa was named Goalkeeper of the Year in the Championship Division. Meanwhile, FC London’s team captain, Ryan Baker, was awarded Defender of the Year, while Yiannis Tsalatsidis was named Coach of the Year. And then the squad had five players named to the all-star team, including Palajsa, Baker, defender Bradley Heath, midfielder Dante D’Oria, and striker Bai Essa Coker.

Earlier, FC London’s women’s player Julia Benati was named Midfielder of the Year in League1 Ontario’s Premier Division. Head coach Garrett Peters earned Coach of the Year honours.

Both teams will play in their respective Premier Divisions in 2025.