The St. Thomas Stars tried to dig themselves out of a three-goal hole, but the Sarnia Legionnaires held on for a 6-4 victory.

Sarnia made the score 6-3 on a goal by Davis Boyer at 8:13 in the third period, and St. Thomas got as close as 6-4 when Carson Brookshaw scored 17:38 into the third period.

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

Sarnia pulled out the victory even though it was hit with 28 penalty minutes.

The Legionnaires forced the Stars goalie Nikolas Dampier to work between the pipes, taking 40 shots. Sarnia capitalized on St. Thomas' penalties, netting two goals while skating with a man advantage.

The Legionnaires were helped by Nathan Mater, who grabbed one goal. Mater scored 57 seconds into the third period to make the score 5-3 Sarnia. Sarnia also got points from Boyer, who also racked up one goal and one assist, Ryan Trottier, who also had one goal and one assist, and Tyler Prong, who also registered one goal and one assist. Others who scored for Sarnia included Cody Trowell and Riley Babkirk, who each put in one. In addition, Sarnia received assists from Bobby King, who had one.

The defensemen of the Stars were also effective in Sarnia's zone, and came away with two goals.

St. Thomas was helped by Matt Simsons, who tallied one goal. Simsons scored 9:02 into the second period to make the score 2-1 St. Thomas. Jay Dekker assisted on the tally. St. Thomas additionally got points from Adam Truax, who also had one goal and one assist. James Newland also scored for St. Thomas. Other players who recorded assists for St. Thomas were Reed Horvat, who had one and Dane Johnstone, who had two.

Andrew Masters made 25 saves for the Legionnaires on 29 shots. For Sarnia, Jay Clarke was ejected from the game. The Stars' Dampier stopped 34 shots out of the 40 that he faced. St. Thomas incurred 12 minutes in penalty time with six minors.