The Alliston Hornets are making the four-hour trek back from Windsor tonight with a win in their pockets and the knowledge they could hit the ice Saturday night at the New Tecumseth Recreation Complex with a chance to win the coveted Jr. C Schmalz Cup in front of a hometown crowd.

The Hornets stormed to a 5-1 win in the Essex 73's neck of the woods tonight in a game that seemed to play out like the exact reverse of Tuesday night's game in Alliston. This time it was Essex who came out flat and only scored once.  The win gave Alliston a 3-2 lead in the series.

First Period

While the Essex 73's came out strong in the first period, dominating a lot of the play, the Hornets  managed to take an early 2-0 lead.

Alliston's Cody Rhodes put his Hornets ahead early in the first period after taking a pass from Kurtis Brossard.

At the 14-minute mark, Ryan Algar took passes from Zenon Byblow and Jeff McCarty before netting the Hornets' second goal of the game to put them up 2-0.

Alliston has goaltender Jon Porretta to thank for Essex's early lack of production, after he made several outstanding saves.

The Hornets were trying to take back the series lead in game give, after losing game gour Tuesday night in Alliston, allowing Essex to tie the series 2-2.

Second Period

Essex 73's Chris Warren scored 6:31 into the second period from Sean Ducharme and Wes Tan, cutting the Hornet's lead to 2-1 and rob Porretta of the shut-out.

Jason Campeau scored for the Hornets at the very bottom of the frame on a powerplay off passes from Tottenham native McCarty and Michael Campeau. The time of the marker was 19:09.

Third Period 

It was all Alliston in the third period as Kyle McPherson scored goal number four for the Hornets on a powerplay 43 seconds into the final frame assisted by Algar and Byblow. The 73's Chris Warren had taken a two-minute penalty  and 10 minute gross misconduct for head checking right at the buzzer to end the second frame.

Two minutes into the third, Alliston gave up its third powerplay opportunity to Essex of the night, but they could do nothing with it. In fact the 73's were zero for six on the powerplays for the night.

Thomas Faris scored a short handed marker with just under nine minutes left in the game to seal the deal for the Hornets. Essex fans reportedly started making their way to the parking lot after that one.

What’s Next?

Game six will be played Saturday night at 6:30 p.m. at the New Tec Rec Complex.

The Kevin Lord memorial fundraising dance is also being held at the Rec Complex the same night so there are concerns over a shortage of parking.

A free shuttle bus will be available leaving from the New Tecumseth Administration Centre parking lot on Church Street just south of Victoria Street and will bring people to the rinks. Park your car at the town hall or downtown and catch the bus to the rink.

Starting at 5 p.m. the bus will leave the south side of the town hall, on Wellington Street, every 15 minutes. The last shuttle will return to the town office at 9:45 p.m.

At the arena, people will be dropped off and picked up at the front door.

Tickets are on sale for Saturday's game tomorrow (Friday)  at the Rec Centre kiosk from 10 a.m to 3 p.m., and then from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Whatever seats are left after that will be sold Saturday from 11:30 a.m. up until the start of the game. Capacity crowd is expected and 100 seats are being held for Essex fans.

If game seven is needed it will be played Sun., May 4 back in Essex at the Essex Memorial Arena at 7:30 p.m.