Nicholas Lepone lifted the Pickering Panthers to a 5-2 victory with a hat trick against the St. Michaels Buzzers.

Pickering pulled out the victory even though it was hit with 18 penalty minutes.

The Panthers bested their season scoring average. This season, Pickering averages 2.7 goals per contest.

Pickering additionally got points from Michael Walker, who also racked up one goal and two assists. Pickering also got a goal from Doug Carter as well. More assists for Pickering came via Brent Tuchner, Robert Cammalleri, Mark Tenuta, and Brodie Tutton, who contributed one a piece.

St. Michaels' offense rang up 37 shots on the Panthers' net. The Buzzers were held back by their power play unit, which tallied one goal on 10 chances.

St. Michaels was led by Bron Loiselle, who had one goal and one assist. Loiselle scored on the power play 5:08 into the second period to make the score 1-1. A roughing penalty on Walker had put the Buzzers on the power play. CJ Shugart picked up the assist. Matt Alvaro also scored for St. Michaels.

Steven Dombrosky made 35 saves for Pickering on 37 shots. The Panthers registered one goal on five power play opportunities. Pickering ran into serious disciplinary problems during the contest, and Mike Nedoszytko was ejected from the game. George Argiropoulos recorded 22 saves for St. Michaels. The Buzzers incurred 12 minutes in penalty time with six minors.