The Pickering Panthers completed a first-round sweep on Friday night, defeating the Wellington Dukes 2–0 at Lehigh Arena to advance to the second round of the postseason.
Pickering set the tone early in the opening period as Kavc opened the scoring just 1:50 into the game, finishing a feed from Stevens to give the Panthers a quick 1–0 lead.
Kavc struck again in the second period, scoring his second of the night at 6:30 off a pass from Secko to double the Panthers’ advantage to 2–0.
The third period featured no scoring but plenty of intensity as frustrations boiled over late, resulting in multiple roughing and fighting penalties between the two clubs.
Goaltender Sciere was outstanding for Pickering, stopping all 37 shots he faced to record the shutout. Wellington’s Riley made 33 saves on 35 shots in the loss.
Neither team was able to capitalize on the power play in a penalty-filled game, with Pickering going 0-for-12 and Wellington 0-for-3.
With the win, the Pickering Panthers complete the series sweep over the Wellington Dukes and move on to the second round of the OJHL playoffs.
