The tie concludes the exhibition schedule for the Sting as they finished with a 3-1-2 record.

Sarnia will now prepare for their season opener, their 17th in the OHL, when they host the defending league champion Windsor Spitfires Friday night beginning at 7:05 pm. at the RBC Centre.

The Sting jumped out to a 2-0 lead before the game was nine minutes old. Saginaw cut the lead in half nine minutes into period two and tied the game early in the third period.

"We competed hard, " said Sting head coach Dave MacQueen, who was satisfied with his team’s performance.

"That’s a pretty good team over there and they play a physical brand of hockey. I thought we held in that regard.

There were some youthful mistakes on our part and at times we got running around in our own end. But we came out strong early and set the tone. We ran out of gas late in the game"

Brandon Francisco opened the scoring for the Sting just over a minute into the game when he knocked home a loose puck in the slot area.

Rookie sensation Nail Yakupov scored his third game in his last two games at 8:53 when he lifted a backhander over the goalie from close range. Yakupov did leave the game midway through the third period after taking a slash on the arm.

Rookie Brandon Hope got the start in goal for the Sting and had another solid effort. No shots on goal were recorded, but he made a number of fine saves.

"Brandon was very good," said MacQueen. "What I liked about him was his rebound control. He doesn’t seem to give up those second and third opportunities off rebounds. He’s a confident kid and that’s a real bonus for a young player."

The only goal Hope allowed came in the second period Vincent Trocheck banged home a centering pass from the slot.

Shayne Campbell relieved Hope in the Sting goal midway through the second period. He allowed just the one goal that coming off the stick of Ivan Telegrin early in the third period knocking in a rebound off a point drive.

There were no power play goals as Sarnia took only two minor penalties and Saginaw five.

MacQueen says he’s happy the pre-season is over.

"For some reason this year it seems longer than usual. I know the players are looking forward to playing some real games. It’s not going to be easy playing Windsor and London right off the bat. It will be a good test."

He added, "it’s a process and we know we have a lot of work ahead of us. But we’ll have a good week of practice and be ready for the season opener."

STING NOTES

• Defenceman Joe Rogalski broke a skate blade in warmup and was forced to watch. Forward JC Campagna played his first game after missing all of training camp with a hip problem.

• Defenceman Ron Soucie has been given the clearance to start skating Monday. He has missed all of training camp with a neck injury.

• Not dressed for the Sting were Soucie, Kyle Flemington, Nick Latta, Ben O’Quinn, John Cullen and Kale Kerbashian.

• Attendance was less that 500 as the game was played at a small community rink.