The Waxers took advantage of home ice in game 6 in a must win situation and behind an exciting 6-5 victory have forced a game seven in the South Division Championship Series.  As many would expect, the games continue to get more tense as the series progresses and although it may not be typical playoff hockey, the games have been incredibly entertaining as the pace is quick, the hitting is hard and the puck movement is breathtaking.

Wexford opened the scoring on a 2-on-1 rush just past the midway mark of the first period.  This opened the flood gates for what would be a combined 6 goals in just 5:55 of playing time.  Markham tied the game on Liam Bowen's first of the night, when Bowen pounced on a loose puck off an offensive draw taken by Kevin Cribari and fired the puck through the Raider goalie's legs to tie the game at 1-1.  Then, with the teams squared off in 4-on-4 hockey, the teams exchanged goals just 12 seconds apart to make it 2-2.  Right after Wexford scored on a goal mouth scramble, Mark Menonte and Tony Rossi went to work to even the score.  Taking the puck from the draw at centre, Rossi danced his way in to the Raider end and then spun around on the left wing boards.  Feeding the puck down low in the corner to Menonte, Rossi charged the net and one-timed Menonte's perfect return feed for the goal.  Wexford would add another during the 4-on-4 to take a 3-2 lead with 5:20 left on the clock.  Markham would then capitalize on a power play as Menonte won the draw to Rossi, who fed Cribari at the point and his snap shot was deflected home by Menonte in front to end the first period in a 3-3 tie.

Markham stormed out in the second period and jumped on an early 5-on-3 power play to take their first lead of the night.  After a Cribari point shot was stopped, Menonte found the rebound and banked it in to the net off the Raider goalie before he had a chance to recover his positioning.  The Waxers upped their lead to 5-3 with another power play goal at the 7:47 mark after the Raiders had changed goaltenders.  Rossi found Jamie Wright open at the point and his blast was tipped in front by Bowen to give Markham the two goal bulge.  Wexford cut the lead in half with a power play goal of their own before the second would end.

Wexford came out strong to start the third period and held the advantage for the opening half of the final period.  The Raiders tied the game with a goal just under 6 minutes in to the frame and the Waxers seemed to take a few minutes to recapture their composure.  Markham pored it on however, in the final 10 minutes, getting 8 of their 9 shots in the period in the final half.  The hard work paid off as, with just 2:46 left on the clock, Ryan Steane converted a nice centering pass by Cribari for the game winning goal. 

Scott Gray played well for the Waxers stopping 32 shots along the way for his 10th victory of the postseason.  Game seven goes Tuesday night in Wexford, game time is 7:30pm, and the Waxers will have to find a way to break the trend in what has been a "homer" series over the first 6 games. 

G A M E   S T A T I S T I C S

No.

 G

A

PTS

PIM

PPG

SHG

GWG

TOTALS