First Period

The Jr. C Alliston Hornets found themselves down 2-0 in the first four minutes of play as they battled the Napanee Raiders in game three of the Schmalz Cup Eastern semifinals.

They started goaltender Troy Dowswell, who played just a half game in game four the last series  against Walkerton in post-season play and game four of the four-game sweep of the Erin Shamrocks in round one, but after two goals, the first on a powerplay and the second just seconds later, they quickly thought better of the decision and put Jon Porretta back in net.

The Raiders' standout scorer Peter Sergeant scored both the goals.

Then a Raider penalty gave the Hornets' Brandon Elliot the opening he needed to score on netminder Zak Vandenburg with less than five minutes left in the frame, assisted by Ryan Algar and Zenon Byblow to put them back in the mix.

Second Period

Both teams killed off early man-advantages in the second frame.

Another powerplay led Byblow to score for  the Hornets and tie it up with just over eight minutes left in the second. Assisting on the play were Kyle McDowell and Michael Campeau.

Byblow scored again with four minutes remaining in the second period to put the Hornets ahead by one for the first time in the game. Hornet captain and Beeton native, Robbie Rutledge earned the assist on the play.

Just over two minutes into the final frame, the Hornets' Kurtis Brossard put Alliston ahead by two off a pass from Thomas Faris. 

Then, with 11:36 remaining, McDowell scored off passes from Michael Campeau and Faris to make it 5-2 for the hometown Hornets.

The win gave the Hornets a two games to one edge in the series over the Raiders.

In the Schmalz Cup Western semifinals, Essex leads Grimsby 3-0 after an overtime win Sunday by Essex and a 4-2 victory in game three of that series tonight.

Game four of the Alliston/Napanee series is back in Napanee at the Strathcona Paper Centre on Thurs., April 10 at 8:30 p.m. Game five will be at the New Tec Rec Complex on Sun., April 13, with game six slated for Napanee on Tues., April 15 at 8:30 p.m. and game seven in Alliston on Thurs., April 17 at 8:30 p.m if needed.