The Cornwall River Kings drop game one on the road in their second round series 3-1 to Sorel. Cornwall now heads home trialing early in this young series. Cornwall did have home ice advantage but started on the road due to local scheduling conflicts.
Both teams tried to set the tone early in the contest with some big hits being thrown, likely a spillover from the regular season rivalry. It is the River Kings who get on the board first when a Mario Joly point shot finds the back of the net through traffic on a power play. Sorel had a couple of good scoring chances but Loic Lacasse was solid in the River Kings net. Both teams directed eight pucks on goal after 20 minutes.
Early in the second period the River Kings cough up the puck behind their own net and see Sorel tie things up just 21 seconds in. Eric Doucet is the goal scorer. It was all Lacasse after that with the HC Carvena putting a lot of rubber on net in the middle frame. Lacasse made two spectacular saves during a penalty kill en route to an 18 save second period. The River Kings were outshot 19-9 in the frame.
Sorel waste no time getting their first lead of the game scoring just 1:59 into the third period. Dominic Chiasson tipped a point shot past Lacasse for that lead. The River Kings had some great scoring chances in the period but Francis Gourdeau was up to the task between the pipes for Sorel making 29 saves on the afternoon. Despite the loss Lacasse was solid in goal for the Kings making 38 saves and earning third star. Christian Deschesne scored the empty netter with 4.7 seconds to go.