Searle Hat Trick Leads Blues to Win
Derek Searle scored three goals, including a tie-breaker that put the Blues ahead to stay in the second period, leading Dundas to a 9-4 win in game three of a best of seven first round playoff series, Tuesday.
The big win gives the Blues a 2-1 series lead over the Dunnville Terriers as the teams head right back to the ice in Dunnville tonight for game four. Game five is set for Saturday night at Dundas' J.L. Grightmire Arena. Game time is 8:30 p.m.
Searle, a forward for both the Hamilton Jr. Bulldogs Midget AAA team and the undefeated Highland Secondary School Hawks, scored the first goal of Tuesday night's name to give Dundas a 1-0 lead five minutes after the drop of the puck. He was called up along with Ryan Golow and Brayden Knott to help out the injury-plagued Blues. Dylan Gilbert and Robert Bentivegna picked up assists on the goal.
Kevin Dowling gave Dundas a 2-0 lead with a powerplay goal assisted by Sean Malone to wind down the opening period.
Dunnville bounced back early in the second frame with two straight goals to tie the match. Then Searle found the net a second time to break the deadlock, with help from Gilbert and Andrew Kolodzey.
From there, it was all Blues as D.J. McConnell, Gilbert and Mike Peters all scored in the second period. Peters, McConnell, John Murray, Andrew Clark and Mike Tache had assists as the Blues entered the final period up 6-3.
Bentivegna, Andrew Cebulak, and Searle each scored in the third period to finish off the convincing 9-4 win.
Dundas goalie Cam Graham made 26 saves for the win.
It was a satisfying rebound for the team after losing game two largely due to difficulty killing penalties and scoring on the powerplay.
Tuesday night, the Blues held Dunnville to just one goal on eight powerplay chances while scoring four goals of their own with a man advantage on 10 chances.
General manager Steve Aglor said the three call-up's all worked hard and contributed to the win. He also credited the line of McConnell, Peters and Dowling with a strong game. The trio had a total of five points between them.
