Mike Gruhl lifted the Hagersville Hawks to a 5-3 victory with a hat trick against the Ayr Centennials.

Gruhl notched his first tally 13:59 into the first period. He then added goals at 18:06 into the first and at 17:41 into the second.

The win by Hagersville broke a deadlock and gave the Hawks a 2-1 advantage in the best of seven series.

Hagersville was forced to rely heavily on their penalty kill unit throughout the game, as it racked up 30 penalty minutes.

Hagersville additionally got points from Nick Halliday, who also racked up one goal and one assist. Hagersville also got a goal from Jesse Ross as well. In addition, Hagersville received assists from Derek Medeiros, who had four and Deacan Krause, Greg Longboat, Scott DeGraff, and Dakota Powless, who contributed one a piece.

Ayr forced the Hawks goalie Jordan Ironside to work between the pipes, taking 34 shots. The Centennials struggled to stay out of the sin bin throughout the game as they finished the game with 26 penalty minutes for six opposing power plays. Ayr was held back by its power play unit, which tallied two goals on 12 chances.

The Centennials were helped by Nathan Redford, who registered one goal. Redford scored 3:03 into the second period to make the score 3-2 Ayr. Lee Doherty provided the assist. Tyler Gauthier also scored for Ayr. Other players who recorded assists for Ayr were Philip Durnford and Andrew Tapsell, who each chipped in one.

Jordan Ironside made 31 saves for Hagersville on 34 shots. Doherty rejected 24 shots on goal for Ayr.