TOLEDO, Ohio – Friday night was a must-win game for the Cincinnati Cyclones who came into Game 4 down 3-0 in the best-of-seven series, and were hoping to push the series to a Game 5. The Toledo Walleye took a 9-2 victory and swept Central Division Finals against the Cincinnati Cyclones.
The Walleye came out of the gate with two quick goals within the game’s first six minutes. The Walleye faithful showed up to watch their team dominate on the ice. In front of 8,300 fans in the Huntington Center, the team performed the best to their capability.
The Walleye, led by Gordie Green (2G, 2A) had the team’s third and fifth goals of the night. The Walleye dominated from the start with a 3-0 lead after the first 20 minutes of play. The crowd stood right back up from a goal from Andrew Sturtz (2G, 1A) within the game’s first two minutes. Brett McKenzie tallied a goal and two assists to go along with Green and Sturtz being the night’s top performers for the Walleye. The fifth, sixth, and seventh goals of the night were all on the power-play as the Walleye went 3/7 on the power-play. John Lethemon recorded 23 saves on 25 shots.
The Cyclones had goals from Lincoln Griffin and James Hardie. Cincinnati’s season comes to an end tonight but nothing to hang the heads down for. They were first in the regular season in the central division. The Cyclones had to use both of their goal-tenders on Friday night. Mark Sinclair faced 16 shots and made 13 saves. Beck Warm faced 21 shots and made 15 saves.
The Walleye will have to wait and see who they play in the next round of the playoffs. It will either be Idaho Steelheads or the Allen Americans.
Check out this photo gallery from Field Pass Hockey’s Drake Harlett for highlights from the game.
