The Goderich Flyers held the Mitchell Hawks in check until late in Game 1 of their quarter-final series.
The Hawks' Carter Lewis scored the opening goal early in the first period at the 1:39 mark.
From there it stayed scoreless until the third period. Carson Fletcher tied the game for Goderich at 7:09 on the power play.
Then with just 50 seconds left in the the third period, Evan Dowd gave Mitchell the lead on an individual effort. Dowd then added an empty net goal seconds later to give Mitchell the 3-1 win.
The series will continue Saturday with Game 2 at 7:30 p.m. in Zurich.
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In Mount Forest, the Patriots were able to open things up by scoring five unanswered goals in a 6-2 win over the Walkerton Hawks.
Both teams fired everything they could on net with Walkerton outshooting Mount Forest 50-47.
The penalty box filled up in the third period. After no penalties in the first and just eight minutes worth of minors in the second, the teams combined for 32 penalty minutes in the third period.
The series continues Friday night in Mount Forest at 8:30 p.m.
