The Jr. C Alliston Hornets will hit the ice this Sun., April 13 in Alliston with a chance to win the Schmalz Cup semifinals and move on to the championship round after downing the Napanee Raiders 6-1 tonight (Thurs., April 10) in a road game. It's going to be a huge game for the team and fans.

The Schmalz Cup is the Jr. C equivalent to an All-Ontario Championship.

Napanee coach Jacques Tremblay blamed his team's loss on Tuesday night to bus legs in an interview with the Kingston Whig-Standard, but there was no  excuse for the Raiders' play two nights later on home ice, and bus legs certainly hadn't affected the Hornets.

They might have had an easier chance when it came to scoring however. The Raiders' first-line goalie, Zak Vandenburg, who has started almost every game in Napanee's stellar post season, was sidelined Thursday night with a flu bug. The Raiders relied on their backup goalie Fraser Nash, who didn't fare well against the Hornet sharpshooters. No word yet on who will start in net on Sunday night for Napanee.

Hornet Captain Robbie Rutledge got things started with the lone goal of the first period last night, assisted by Ryan Algar and Jason Campeau.

In the second, Kyle McPherson notched a powerplay goal off passes from Algar and Rutledge just under three minutes into play.

Then 6:56 into the second frame, Kyle Brossard made it 3-0 for the Hornets much to the chagrin of Napanee fans who once again filled the Strathcona Paper Centre to watch their team play.

That's where the score stood heading into the third frame.

Chris Lewis notched Napanee's only goal of the game 22 seconds into the third on a shorthanded play assisted by Dan Stone.

But then Alliston came back on the same two-man advantage with a goal from Thomas Faris assisted by Zenon Byblow and McDowell just 23 seconds later to nullify it.

Kyle McPherson picked up passes from McDowell and Algar at the 11:21 mark on another powerplay to make it 5-1 Alliston.

Luke Vanderhulst scored the final Alliston Marker on an unassisted play with 5:18 left in the game to make it 6-1.

The Hornets return home up three games to one against Napanee,  a team not used to losing of late. It's got to be a heartbreaker for the Raiders who have lost both of their games in front of hometown crowds and had to settle for their only win in an away game in Alliston.

The winner of this round will play the winner of the Western semi-final between the Grimsby Peach Kings and the Essex 73s. Currently Essex leads that series three games to one.

Grimsby won Wednesday night in overtime 5-4 on Essex's home ice for their first win of the series. It was the 73s' first loss since Belle River blanked them 2-0 in the first game of the south division championship. They then went on with four-straight wins and another four straight over Wallaceburg in the quarter finals of the Schmalz Cup round. Game five of the Essex Grimsby series will be played tomorrow night (Fri., April 11) in Grimsby at 7:30 p.m. with game six Sunday (if needed) back in Essex.The Hornets/Raiders hit the ice again Sunday at the New Tecumseth Recreation Complex. We'll carry live updates here at www.allistonherald.com. Click your refresh button often for updates.