The comeback is complete for the Picton Pirates.
Picton edged the Amherstview Jets 3-2 on the road in Game 7 on Thursday night to punch its ticket to the second round, fuelled by a pair of goals from Luc Amat.
Picton found a way to grind out a comeback win from three games to one after some controversy in Game 4 when its win was forfeited due to an ‘ineligible’ affiliated player.
It took the Pirates a bit to find the net and the Jets took hold of the game with the opening goal for the second straight game, when Andrew White struck quickly off a faceoff at 15:54 of the first.
Discipline then got away from the Jets in the middle stanza, setting up the Pirates to take the lead.
The Pirates scored twice on the powerplay, with Colby Leaver equalizing the situation by netting his first of the postseason at 8:20 from Tyler Braund and Cole Mulder and Amat finishing off a play with Cole Stevenson and Gerrit Kempers less than three minutes later.
Picton continued to play tough, aggressive hockey in front of an electric building in Amherstview and put the stamp on their series victory.
A shot from Amat found its way through Tyson Wilcox to make it 3-1 Pirates at 11:08 of the third and the play of Lane and the Pirates defence and shotblockers made the advantage stand up, despite a late scare from Carter McKee.
The final shots favoured Amherstview 29-24, but in the end, the Pirates pulled through and will go on to meet the Tod Division-winning Lakefield Chiefs in the divisional semifinals.
Full schedule details are set to come.
