The Smiths Falls Bears tried to dig themselves out of a two-goal hole, but the Hawkesbury Hawks held on for a 5-4 victory.
Hawkesbury made the score 5-3 on a goal by Jacob Drobczyk at 5:20 in the third period, and Smiths Falls got as close as 5-4 when Nicolas Coates scored 17:07 into the third period.
The win gave the Hawks a 2-0 lead in the best of seven series.
Chris Smith was all over the ice for Hawkesbury, as he tallied one goal and two assists in the win. Smith scored on the power play 10:19 into the first period to make the score 3-2 Smiths Falls. The Hawks earned a power play opportunity when Chris MacMillan was put in the box for holding. Jonathan Cyr picked up the assist.
Hawkesbury's penalty kill was spotless, allowing no goals on three Smiths Falls power plays.
Hawkesbury also got points from Charles Levesque, who also finished with one goal and one assist. Others who scored for Hawkesbury included Joe Smith and Bruno Cheff, who each put in one. In addition, Hawkesbury received assists from Johnathan Kovacevic, who had three and Julien Denicourt, Brett Everson, and Reid Murphy, who each chipped in one.
Smiths Falls also had goals scored by Brett Garvey and Sterling Bray, who scored one goal each. Other players who recorded assists for Smiths Falls were Jesse Blais, who had two and Ethan Coltart, Caleb Perez, Josh Leblanc, Corey Caruso, Joey Rutkowski, and Cole Busschaert, who contributed one each.
Cole Skinner made five saves before being replaced by Andrew Tucci, who took the win and made 21 saves. The Hawks incurred 10 minutes in penalty time with five minors. Evan DeBrouwer recorded 25 saves for the Bears. Smiths Falls incurred 12 minutes in penalty time with six minors.
