Waterloo Siskins forward Owen Lane (left) celebrates his first goal of the night with teammate Benton Hayes during Game 1 of the Sutherland Cup on Thursday night in London.

Offence takes centre stage in Siskins Game 1 victory

The Waterloo Siskins had not faced the London Nationals yet this season, but they have been pitted against each other as the last two teams standing in the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League. Waterloo is making its first appearance in the Sutherland Cup finals since 1994, while London is here for the third time in the last four years. The Nationals have lost just twice in 11 home games this postseason and boast the GOJHL's second-lowest goals against average in the playoffs. None of that mattered on Thursday night.

Waterloo outworked, outskated, and overpowered the Nats in nearly every facet of the game on Thursday, shocking London with a 9-4 victory to open the deciding best-of-seven series. It was the usual suspects for Waterloo breaking the ice, with Alex Lycett scoring his 13th of the playoffs with three minutes left in the first period, and Owen Lane doubling the lead with 50 seconds to go. London seemed undeterred by the late tallies, as Josh Castle cut Waterloo's lead in half just over a minute into the second period, banking a shot off Matt Onuska's leg from behind the goal line. From there, Waterloo would pull away.

Four minutes later, the Siskins responded with Lane potting his second of the night and completing the hat-trick on a breakaway that chased London's Zach Springer from the game. It was the first time this postseason that anyone but Springer has manned the Nationals crease. Backup Jukka Schotter was unable to stop the bleeding, as a rebound on one of the first shots he faced dropped off his chest onto the tape of Sam Cherry, who made no mistake putting it home to give Waterloo the 5-1 lead heading into the third. 

A minute in, Benton Hayes got into the fun by capitalizing on a mistake by Schotter, who left the puck beside the net for his defenceman, who was anticipating a pass. Benton scooped up the loose puck and tucked it between the legs of an unsuspective Schotter. 

Matt Onuska needed to be sharp in the third period with London putting on a desperate push to get back into the game. Noah Tooke did beat Onuska twice within three minutes midway through the third, but it was too little, too late. Onuska stopped 19 shots in the frame and finished with 37 total as he and his Siskins teammates held on, scoring three late goals to seal the game. 

Owen Lane was fantastic in this game, scoring a hat-trick and adding three assists, while Cherry chipped in five points for Waterloo. They were two of six Siskins players that finished with multiple points in the win. 

The series now shifts to the Rec Complex in Waterloo for Game 2, where the Siskins are 9-3 in the playoffs. London will try to wrestle home ice advantage back to their grasp with a win. Puck drop is set for 1:30 pm on Sunday afternoon.

NBL Semi-final returns to Kitchener as Titans host St. John's

The K-W Titans flew home from Newfoundland frustrated with being unable to steal a game from the St. John's Edge, but taking confidence from the manner in which they lost the first two games of their National Basketball League semi-finals. The Titans dropped Game 1 by a score of 101-93 and Game 2 was even tighter, 112-111, giving hope to a team that many did not expect to even be here.

K-W shocked the NBL by upsetting the first-place London Lightning in the first round, and are now looking to prove that it was no fluke. If the first two games of this series are any indication, the Titans have a chance to do just that.

Game 3 of this series tips off tonight at 7 pm at The Aud in Kitchener. K-W will need its best effort of the playoffs to avoid going down 3-0 in the series. With a win, though, the Titans will have an opportunity on Sunday afternoon to hold court and send the series back to St. John's tied.