O’LEARY – Alex Graham’s power-play goal with 4:19 remaining in the second period gave Central Attack their first lead of the game Friday night in O’Leary.
His empty-net goal with 27 seconds remaining in the third period cemented the win as the Attack downed the Western Warriors 4-2 to tie the best-of-five championship series 2-2.
The Warriors and Attack meet to decide the P.E.I. Major Bantam AAA Hockey League championship at MacLauchlan Arena on the UPEI campus in Charlottetown on Saturday at 7 p.m.
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Graham also drew an assist on Reid Vos’s short-handed goal with a second remaining in the first period. That tied the game at 1-1, but a pair of power-play goals, the other by team captain Jacob Squires, gave the Attack a 3-2 lead after two periods. Max McQuaid (2) and Josh Lund drew assists.
For the Warriors, who held leads of 1-0 and 2-1, Donovan Arsenault (1-1) and Zach Biggar did the scoring. Mike McRae had the other assist.
AJ Cooper picked up the goaltending win while Aiden Williams suffered the loss.
All four games in the series so far have been won by the road team.
“It’s a very bazaar series, nobody winning at home,” acknowledged Attack head coach Jeff MacDonald, who expressed hope his team can change that on Saturday.
“I’m proud of our guys. We kept the third guy high, we battled in our own end and we found a way to win the period and obviously force Game 5.”
Chas McNeill, assistant coach for the Warriors, was satisfied with his team’s effort in the third, but not so much with the first two periods. He said the Warriors will need to play a full 60 minutes on the road.
There were over 400 fans in attendance for Game 4, and MacDonald noted his team has been drawing well at home, too.
“This has been aa great series,” said MacDonald. “I knew it was going to be back and forth. They played us tough all year. They got better as the year went on, and I feel our team did, too. We’re going to Game 5.”
