Adam Prudhomme
Editor
History could be made tomorrow night when the Napanee Raiders will have a chance to clinch the Schmalz Cup on home ice.
The Raiders moved to within one win of the Ontario Junior C championship with a 4-1 road win over the Grimsby Peach Kings to take a 3-1 series lead.
Curtis Marrison scored on the power-play midway through the first to get the Raiders rolling. Evan Foley earned the assist.
Cam Harris doubled the lead at 17:31 with Dayton Kent picked up the helper.
The 2-0 lead held until the 14:28 mark of the second when Cullen Hinds pushed it to 3-0 with help from Reid Humphrey.
Grimsby had thoughts of making a comeback when Evan Brown scored short-handed just over a minute into the third period.
Not to be outdone, Raiders captain Justynn Steven responded with a short-handed goal of his own just passed the nine minute mark to round out the scoring.
Tensions were high as the teams played their fourth game, with Grimsby racking up 50 minutes of penalties on 14 infractions while Napanee spent 30 minutes in the penalty box on 11 infractions. Each team had eight power-play opportunities, with Napanee converting on one, while Grimsby was shutout. Both teams did record a goal while down a man however.
Nicholas Nabuurs earned the win with 17 saves. Riley Maskell took the loss, allowing all four goals on 27 shots.
The Raiders will attempt to close out the series tomorrow night in Game 5 at the SPC. Puck drop is 7:30 p.m.
If the Peach Kings can stretch the series, Game 6 would go Friday in Grimsby at 7:30 p.m. Game 7 would go Sunday night in Napanee, with a 7 p.m. puck drop.