Behind a great game by Paul Hopkins, who had two goals, the London Nationals defeated the Sarnia Legionnaires, 5-1.

Hopkins scored at 4:36 into the first period to make the score 1-0 London and again while 16:07 into the first to make the score 2-0 London.

The win gave London a 1-0 lead in the best of seven series.

The Nationals were led by goalie Jacob Riley, who finished with 37 saves while allowing one goal. Despite the solid performance, Riley will actually see his goals against average rise, as it stood at 1.0 entering the contest.

London put up an impenetrable defensive front on the penalty kill, and did not allow Sarnia to score on any of its seven power plays. The Nationals' offense rang up 32 shots on the Legionnaires' net.

London additionally got points from Matt Fuller, who also tallied one goal and one assist. London also had goals scored by Ryan Tuffin and Matt Wildman, who scored one goal each. More assists for London came via Tristen Elie and Derek Todosichuk, who contributed one a piece and Mike Whaley, Jeff Bauer, and Nik Passero, who each chipped in two.

London was unable to stop Sarnia from sending pucks towards the net, and the Legionnaires eventually piled up 38 shots on goal.

The Nationals incurred 42 minutes in penalty time with 11 minors. Sarnia's Hunter Johnson stopped 27 shots out of the 32 that he faced. The Legionnaires incurred 22 minutes in penalty time with six minors.