With their backs against the wall and facing elimination the Athens Aeros regrouped form a heart breaking double overtime loss on Tuesday to soundly defeat the Casselman Vikings 3-1 in front of a home crowd of over 500 fans. With Jacob Hartman playing his best game between the pipes since donning an Aeros jersey 2 years ago the Aeros played a near perfect game. 

The game didn't start very well for the Aeros when 21 seconds into the game three Vikings crashed to wards the Aeros goal and the puck ended up behind a surprised Hartman for a quick 1-0 visitor lead.

The Aeros quickly settled down and the action was end to end. Hartman came up big on a break away save and and robbed Vikings Simon Cousineau. Pat Cameron scored a beauty when he broke through the Viking defense and tied the game at 1-1

The second period was once dominated by the Aeros and they were rewarded for their inspired play. Cameron flipped a shot over Casselman's Alex Michaud for a 2-1 Aeros lead. three minutes later Dan Lacroix took a Cameron pass and fired a bullet the Michaud didn't even move on and a 3-1 home team lead. 

The Viking tried the best in the third out shooting the Aeros 15-13 but their best wasn't good enough this night. Their game plan was simple - crash the net and make life as miserable as possible for Hartman. What they didn't bank on was Ethan Robert, Nathan Livingstone, Mark Craig and Avery Woodside making them pay for every visit to the net. 

You know which team wants the win more when you see players like Jacob Clark and David Empey throwing their bodies in front of pucks during 5-3 disadvantage in the second period or captain Steve Parker blocking a shot in the dieing minutes of the game. This team has heart. Lots of heart.

Game seven goes Saturday evening in a winner take all conference title and a shot to take the EOJHL crown.

A fan bus(es) have been organized. Cal Norm at 613-246-2571 or Orley at 613-924-2035.