The Hamilton Steelhawks could not stop the Whitby Dunlops' Kyle Ventura, who tallied a hat trick in a 7-4 win.

Ventura notched his first tally 9:48 into the second period. He then added goals at 5:10 into the third and at 11:46 into the third.

Referees had their hands full with a major incident at 12:20 into the first period. Four fighting penalties were dished out along with two game misconducts.

Whitby forced Hamilton goalie Tim Rogers to work between the pipes, taking 60 shots.

Others who scored for Whitby included Chris Eade, who had two and Patrick Jobb and Ben Parker, who each put in one. In addition, Whitby received assists from Jason Dale and Matt Gray, who contributed one each.

The Steelhawks excelled on the penalty kill, not giving up a single goal in three chances. Hamilton's offense rang up 40 shots on the Dunlops' net.

The Steelhawks were helped by Joel Petkoff, who registered two goals. Petkoff scored the first of his two goals on the power play at 7:06 into the first period to make the score 1-0 Hamilton. Hamilton had taken the advantage when Whitby's Gray got sent off for tripping. Steven Mueller picked up the assist. Petkoff's next tally on the power play made the score 3-2 Whitby with 8:21 left in the second period. Mueller assisted on the tally. Hamilton additionally got points from Mueller, who also finished with one goal and two assists to lead the team in points. Kevin Jaczenko also scored for Hamilton. Other players who recorded assists for Hamilton were Cody Wilson and Cole McNeil, who each chipped in two.

Jason Guy rejected 36 shots on goal for the Dunlops. Whitby ended with 23 minutes in penalty time with four minors and one major. The Dunlops ran into serious disciplinary problems during the contest, and Will Jones was ejected from the game. The Steelhawks' Rogers stopped 53 shots out of the 59 that he faced. Hamilton totaled 11 minutes in penalty time with three minors and one major and went 1-for-4 on the power play. For the Steelhawks, Ryan Green was ejected from the game.