The Hamilton Steelhawks tried to dig themselves out of a two-goal hole, but the Whitby Dunlops held on for a 4-3 victory.

A goal by Will Jones put Whitby up 4-2 in the second period, but Hamilton pulled to within one on Joel Petkoff's tally 6:48 into the third period.

In the losing effort, the Steelhawks were led by Petkoff, who registered two goals. Petkoff scored the first of his two goals at 6:29 into the second period to make the score 3-2 Whitby. Kyle McQuade provided the assist. Petkoff's next tally made the score 4-3 Whitby with 13:12 left in the third period. Steve Guzzo picked up the assist.

Hamilton was unable to stop the Dunlops from sending pucks towards the net, and Whitby eventually piled up 52 shots on goal.

Whitby additionally got points from Darren Doherty, who also tallied one goal and one assist and Brett McConnachie, who also racked up one goal and one assist. Matthew Baxter also scored for Whitby. More assists for Whitby came via Nick Jobb, who had one and Chris Eade and Connor Shingler, who each chipped in two.

The Steelhawks forced the Dunlops goalie Jason Guy to work between the pipes, taking 38 shots.

Hamilton also got points from Gary Clarke, who also had one goal and one assist. Other players who recorded assists for Hamilton were Ben Walsh and Kevin Rebelo, who contributed one each.

Whitby's Guy stopped 35 shots out of the 38 that he faced. The Dunlops incurred eight minutes in penalty time with four minors. Ben Goss made 48 saves for Hamilton on 52 shots. The Steelhawks incurred 14 minutes in penalty time with seven minors.