The Dorchester Dolphins could not stop the Exeter Hawks' Chase Thornton, who tallied a hat trick in a 9-1 win.

Thornton got on the scoresheet 53 seconds into the second period. He then added goals at 14:36 into the second and at 19:24 into the second.

With the win, Exeter avoided elimination to make the series score 3-3 in the best of seven series.

The Hawks were led by goalie Trevor Fleming, who finished with 32 saves while allowing one goal. Fleming certainly lowered his goals against average, which was 2.55 entering the contest.

Exeter forced Dorchester's goalies to work in net, racking up 47 shots and forcing 38 saves. Riley Brown made 23 stops and Matt Waller made 15. The Hawks' penalty kill was spotless, allowing no goals on four Dorchester power plays.

Exeter also got points from Tyler Kettler, who also grabbed one goal and two assists, Max Naus, who also finished with two goals and one assist, and Christian Petrozza, who also registered one goal and one assist. Others who scored for Exeter included Austin Carter and Ryan Hopkins (APM), who scored one goal each. In addition, Exeter received assists from Austin Elkin, Sam Vokes, Liam Melady, and Tyler Coleman, who each chipped in one and Brett Dalton, Jon Baker, and Cory Burr, who contributed two each.

The Dolphins forced Exeter goalie Fleming to work between the pipes, taking 33 shots.

Dorchester was led by Brett Van Dusen, who scored the team's only goal. Van Dusen scored 7:48 into the first period to make the score 1-0 Dorchester. Derek Todosichuk provided the assist.

The Hawks incurred eight minutes in penalty time with four minors. The Dolphins incurred 42 minutes in penalty time with six minors. Dorchester ran into serious disciplinary problems during the contest, and Jay Ritchie was ejected from the game.