Ste Marie gets OT winner for Nats
CORNWALL ONTARIO – Darick Ste Marie scored with 6.9 seconds left in overtime to spark the Cornwall Nationals to a 4-3 victory over the Berlin River Drivers on Saturday night at the Civic Complex.
Lou Dickenson, with a heads up play, set up Ste Marie for the tap-in goal that snapped Cornwall’s six-game losing streak in front of 617 fans.
Josh Pietrantonio opened the scoring for the River Drivers on a wraparound that beat Cornwall’s Francis Dupuis at 12:13 of the first.
Mitchel Porowski leveled the score with 4:27 to play in the opening frame when he pounced on a rebound and beat Berlin goaltender Cory Simons. MJ Graham then set up Dickenson with a perfect pass for a powerplay marker with 2:38 to play in the first.
Sylvester Bzdyl gave the Nationals a 3-1 lead at 7:40 of the second period when he was sent in all alone on a nice feed from Kris McCarthy. Simons stopped the first shot, but Bzdyl banged in the rebound with a great second effort.
The River Drivers came out flying at the beginning of the third. Nick Wright, left alone in the slot, beat Dupuis 1:21 into the period. Fourteen seconds later, Pietrantonio scored his second of the contest to tie the game at 3-3.
That set up an exciting three-on-three overtime. Cornwall outshot Berlin 5-0 in the extra period and 38-37 overall.
Graham (first), Dupuis (second) and Bzdyl were the announced stars.
The two teams are right back in action on Sunday afternoon in Berlin. Game time is 2 p.m.
ROAD LOSS: Jiri Pestuka scored his second goal of the game at 2:21 of overtime to give the River Drivers a 5-4 victory over the Nationals on Friday night at Berlin. David Brancik had a goal and two assists for the River Drivers. Porowski, with a pair, Gabriel Levesque and Bzdyl scored for Cornwall. Graham assisted on all four Nationals goals. Dupuis took the loss in goal for Cornwall, which was outshot 42-27.
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