Tanner Simpson, after a chip pass from Jesse Jamieson, found himself in all alone with Elmira Sugar Kings goalie Brendan Gorecki.
He slipped a backhand through Gorecki’s pads to double the Listowel Cyclones’ lead to 2-0, and after a frantic third period it turned out to be the game-winning goal.
The 18-year-old Lucknow native is not normally relied on for his goal scoring, but potting the difference maker in Game 4 of their quarter-final series – Listowel came in trailing 2-1 and desperately needed this win – was huge.
“It feels all right, don’t get too many of those,” Simpson said outside the visitor’s dressing room of the Woolwich Memorial Centre on Sunday, March 7. “I think we’re in pretty good shape right now.”
It’s been a topsy-turvy first four contests between the two Midwestern Junior B clubs: a comeback fell short for Elmira in the opener, then they shut Listowel out in Game 2 to draw even.
Kings forward Riley Sonnenburg stunned Listowel Memorial Arena in the third game with an overtime winner, then the Cyclones responded with a gutsy, low scoring win in Game 4.
Now it’s a best-of-three to decide who will advance.
“Our leadership group knows this is a long series and we’ve got some guys who’ve been in some seven-game series before,” Listowel head coach Mike Brooks said.
Heading into the fifth battle, Elmira head coach Geoff Haddaway tried shifting the focus from momentum to pressure.
“(Listowel) is a team that’s certainly built for this year with (several) 20-year-olds, so they should feel a lot of pressure,” he said. “Makes them play a little more desperate, but hey, it’s a three-game series now.”
Game 5 went last night (March 9) in Listowel, with Game 6 tonight in Elmira.
If necessary, Game 7 would be Friday in Listowel.

GAME 1
The hometown Cyclones jumped out to a 3-0 lead midway through the opener on March 2, only to see the Kings scale the mountain and knot up the score.
Chris Holmes was the hero on this night, scoring twice in the final four minutes to resuscitate the lead and Ken Rolph iced it with an empty netter.
James Prigione faced 38 shots and some verbal abuse fired at him from the Kings but turned aside the majority of it in the win.

GAME 2
With less than 24 hours to recoup, Elmira used home ice advantage to exact some revenge.
Sonnenburg scored the winner a mere 4:10 into the first period and Gorecki secured the shutout.
Things turned nasty towards the end as Listowel’s Dan Mohle and Cook dropped the gloves with Michael Therrien and Andrew Schacht respectively.
“I think both teams expected a tough series and that’s exactly what’s unfolded,” Haddaway said.

GAME 3
On Friday, March 5, neither team could break a third-period 2-2 deadlock, cueing up the first extra session of the series.
Ten minutes in, Sonnenburg sent his squad into a frenzy with the winner, putting Listowel in a tough spot having to skate into enemy territory and win, or face a 3-1 series hole.

GAME 4
Meeting for the fifth time in an eight-day span, the nastiness continued in Elmira on Sunday.
Ryan Horvat’s shorthanded marker put the Cyclones on the board, followed by Simpson’s tally.
Very early in the third, Tyson LeBlanc snapped a hard shot off the crossbar and in to cut Listowel’s lead to 2-1, ratcheting up the intensity until the final buzzer.
Brooks shortened his bench to three forward lines for the third frame, alternating Patrick Bell and Simpson alongside Ken Roph and Dan Mohle.
Mohle and Therrien continued their rivalry from the Game 2 fight, with Therrien delivering a hard slash to his leg in the final minute.