The Walkerton Hawks shut out Kincardine 3-0 in Game 4 to take a 3-1 series lead in the Western Jr. C Final.
For the first time in the series, Walkerton opened the scoring when Justin McCrae tapped the puck by Jacob Hutchings at 2:51 in the first period. The only other goals were scored at 5:41 of the second when Connor Patton tipped a puck into the net from in close on the power play. And Reid Simmons scored on an empty net at 18:47 in the third.
"The first two periods we came out a little bit flat," says Kincardine coach Steve Stepaniak. We got to find ways to get pucks to the net and bodies to the net. Bottom line is 17 or 18 shots isn't enough."
For Walkerton, it was their best first period of the series.
"I thought the guys were pretty focused before the game, I thought they had some good jump in the warm up," says Hawks coach Bill Brown. "Tomorrow (Sunday) we have to come ready to play and we know these guys are a good hockey club and they're not going to quit."
For both teams it's a quick turn around into Game 5 with the opening face-off at 2:50pm in Walkerton Sunday. Add in the time change and it reduces the recovery time to get ready for the next test.
In Game 4, Walkerton out shot Kincardine 31-18 and was 1-6 on the power play. Kincardine was 0-6 on the man advantage.
Sunday's game will be broadcast on CKNX.
