Cornwall Ontario — Special teams made the difference tonight for Sorel who beat the Cornwall River Kings 4-1 at home. The HC Carvena scored three power play goals and one shorthanded. They now take a 2-1 series lead in the LNAH semi-final.
Both teams came out of the gate with a lot of energy but the home crowd noise definitely gave Sorel the edge. The HC Carvena thought they took the lead at 1:17 when Cornwall goalie Loic Lacasse let one trickle through into the net. The referee was quick to wave it off saying he had blown the whistle before it crossed the line. The back and forth play continued until the end of the period. Sorel struck late with a power play goal from Benjamin Lecompte with 1:06 remaining and took that one goal lead into the intermission.
Sorel really took control of the game in the second period when they scored shorthanded while killing a four minute penalty. Dominic Chiasson scored on his own rebound to make it 2-0. Then, while the HC Carvena were on a 5-on-3 man advantage, they increased their lead to 3-0 on a goal from Christian Deschene. Plenty of rough stuff throughout the period with one scrap between Jonathan Jasper and Maxime Charron.
The River Kings start the third period on the power play and strike :45 seconds in on a Mathieu Curadeau slap shot. Cornwall comes close to making it 3-2 when Olivier Proulx is left alone in front but he rings one off the crossbar. Sorel then goes on another power play and regain their three goal lead thanks to Sebastien Rioux.