The Jr. C Alliston Hornets are looking to expand their lead over the Hawks in the quarter-final race for the Schmalz Cup as they board the bus for a two-hour trip to Walkerton tonight (Friday).

It almost looked like two new teams showed up at the New Tec Rec Centre Wednesday night for game three of the best-of-seven series.

After a lot of rough stuff during games one and two last weekend, both squads settled down and got back to basics in a bid to take the lead in the series.

The Hornets left the ice Wednesday with a 3-2 win over the Hawks and now have a one game lead heading into tonight's match in Walkerton.

Even with a low number in penalty minutes, four of the five goals scored during the game were in power play situations.

Alliston racked up 20 minutes in minor penalties compared to 16 for Walkerton.

The only marker that came with ten men on the ice was Alliston's third and game-winning goal.

 "I think we're starting to smarten up and realize that special teams are a big part of the game and if we sit in the box it's going to cost us," Hornet's centre Zenon Byblow said after Wednesday's game. "I think they're starting to realize the same thing. We have a strong power play and so do they, so both teams have to try to stay out of the box otherwise it's going to lead to a lot of powerplay goals."

Byblow scored two of the Alliston goals Wednesday night. The first with a man advantage early in the first period and the second with 12:29 left on the clock in the third.

Kyle McDowell got the second Hornets’ marker in the early going in the second frame.

Hawks centre Trevor Smith put Walkerton on the scoreboard late in the second. Curtis Johnston got the second Hawks’ goal late in the frame.

Game four of the series will get underway tonight, Fri., Mar. 28, in Walkerton. The puck drop is scheduled for 8:30 p.m.

You can follow the game here at www.allistonherald.com, or listen to it live with a Windows Media Player on your computer as CKNX AM 920 out of Wingham will once again be broadcasting a play by play of the game with Steve Sabourin and his team.

The series returns to Alliston on Sun., Mar. 29, for game five at the New Tecumseth Recreation centre with a 6:30 p.m. start. That game too will be updated here and broadcast live on CKNX.

Background on the series and the rest of the Hornets run for the title, can be found in the related articles at right.