Sarnia travelled to Hamilton late last Friday night for game 4 in the series. Sarnia was leading the series 5pts to 1pt and only needed a tie to advance but Sarnia wasn’t making the drive to Hamilton for just a tie. Right from puck drop Sarnia controlled the game as they came out flying against the Reps. The Sting had several scoring opportunities but hadn’t found the back of the net until 7:49 of the first period when Sean Ginnell would score the first goal of the game (which he did in all 3 previous games in the series as well) with a low shot to the glove side with Kyle Adams and Drew Morgan picking up assists on the play giving the Sting an important 1-0 lead. Off the ensuing faceoff at centre ice Jared Bourque won the draw past the Reps centre and chipped the puck over to a streaking Nolan Riley who would go in alone on the breakaway and snipe a low blocker shot to give the Sting a 2-0 lead that set the Reps back on their heels. A few minutes later the Sting would go on the power-play as Aiden Chapdelaine would score his first of the game with Sean Ginnell and Kyle Adams picking up assists giving the Sting a commanding 3-0 lead by the end of the first.
Second period action the Sting were back on the power-play and the line combination of Chapdelaine, Adams and Ginnell would strike again with Chapdelaine netting his second goal of the game with a beautiful bar down shot from the slot giving the Sting a 4-0 lead from Adams and Ginnell. Sarnia would then get into a little penalty trouble and the Reps would climb back into the game mid-way through the second period with a pair of power-play goals of their own closing the score to 4-2. Sarnia would get a late second period power-play of their own and again it was the trio of Adams, Chapdelaine and Ginnell putting the Sting up 5-2 with Adams scoring on the one timer back door from Chapdelaine and Ginnell as both teams would head to the dressing room at the end of the second period with the Sting up 5-2.
Third period action the Sting didn’t hold back with one minute into the third period Sean Ginnell would score his second goal of the game from Chapdelaine and Colin Osler for the 6-2 lead. Soon after the Sting were called for a phantom 5min major for hooking sending the Reps back on the power-play. Hamilton scored early in the power-play to make it 6-3 but for the remainder of the major penalty Sarnia was able to keep the Reps from getting any closer with some strong penalty killing. With just 2:38 left in the game Sean Ginnell would pick off a bad Hamilton pass and complete the hat trick for a 7-3 lead. Aiden Chapdelaine wouldn’t be outdone by his linemate as he would out muscle a Hamilton player for the puck and go in and cap off his hat trick for the night giving the Sting a 8-3 lead which would be the final score of the game as the Sting would win the series 7pts to 1pt. Matt Szabo picked up the win in net. Sarnia’s defensive core of Trevor Forsten, Colin Osler, Trent Duncan, Callahan Doughty, Sean Kelly , Gage Riddoch and Drew Morgan kept the Reps at bay for most of the series.
Sarnia will now face the first place team in the AA league this season Cambridge Hawks who had a quarter final bye. Cambridge finished the season with a very impressive record having only lost 5 games all year in 32 league games. Cambridge was the only team in the league to have fewer goals against and a better GF% than the Sting. Sarnia knows they are in for a tough series as the Hawks are arguably the biggest and most physical team in the league. These two teams have met each other four times this season with the Hawks winning two games, Sarnia winning one game and the other game was a tie, all games between these two opponents have been within one goal.
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