ANAVET CUP: HAWKS FACING ELIMINATION

NIPAWIN – A pair of third period goals propelled the Steinbach Pistons to a come-from-behind 2-1 win over the Nipawin Hawks in Game 5 of the Anavet Cup on Friday night.

Brandan Arnold scored once again for the Hawks, his 6th of the series at 17:05 of the opening frame.  Arnold’s been in on 11 (6g-5) of the Hawks’ 13 goals in the series.

It stayed 1-0 Hawks until period three, when Steinbach’s Drew Worrad’s third of the series would tie things up at 3:58, and Jack Johnson scored the eventual winner at 12:22.

Shots were 36-25 in favour of Steinbach.  Declan Hobbs stopped 34/36 shots in the loss while Pistons’ netminder Matthew Thiessen made 24/25 stops.

The Hawks were 20 minutes away from a series lead, but find themselves down 3-2 and needing back to back road victories in order to win the Anavet Cup and advance to the RBC Cup in Chilliwack.  Game 6 goes Monday night in Steinbach and if the Hawks can pull it out, they’ll do it all over again on Tuesday.

(Craig Stein/SJHL.ca)