The Port Hope Panthers could not stop the Picton Pirates' Tyler Kearns, who tallied a hat trick in a 4-2 win.

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

Both teams had a hard time staying out of the box, and they combined for 17 penalties during the game.

Referees had their hands full with a major incident at 6:27 into the third period. Four fighting penalties were dished out along with two game misconducts.

The Pirates kept Port Hope's goalie busy throughout the game, and DJ Torrenueva made 56 saves on 60 shots. Picton was hit hard by penalties in the contest, and totaled six minors and one majorfor 37 minutes in penalty time. The leading offender was Kearns, who totaled 12 minutes in penalty time with one minor and one misconduct. Team could not crack the Panthers' penalty kill and was held to two power play goals while having 10 opportunities to play with the man advantage.

Evan Greer also scored for Picton. In addition, Picton received assists from Ryan Sizer, who had two and Brandon Peever, Nic Shunock, and Mitch Rosborough, who contributed one each.

Port Hope was often in penalty trouble, totaling nine minors and one major for 53 minutes in penalty time. The Panthers surpassed its season average of 21 penalty minutes per game. The Pirates were unable to stop Port Hope from sending pucks towards the net, and the Panthers eventually piled up 42 shots on goal.

Port Hope was helped by Matt Garner, who had two goals. Garner scored the first of his two goals at 21 seconds into the first period to make the score 1-0 Port Hope. Graham Snoek assisted on the tally. Garner's next tally made the score 2-0 Port Hope with 4:51 left in the first period. Snoek picked up the assist. More assists for Port Hope came via Tyler Park, who had one.

Matt Kaludis recorded 40 saves for Picton. Team's Kyle Dekeyser and Kearns were slapped with misconducts and ejected from the game. The Panthers registered zero goals on two power play opportunities. For Port Hope, Cory Robbins and Snoek were ejected from the contest.