Graeme MacAuley chose the biggest crowd of the season to deliver his biggest performance… well, perhaps ever with the Menace.
With 1,200 fans packed into Memorial Arena Friday, the Milton captain scored his fourth, fifth and sixth of the playoffs – and assisted on two other goals – to power a 8-5 victory over defending OJHL champion Collingwood.
Now up three-games-to-one, the Menace can punch their ticket to the West Conference finals with a road win tonight. Should the Blues stave off elimination, the series returns to Memorial Monday, with a 7:30 p.m. start.
Milton struck twice before last night’s game was three minutes old and held the lead the entire way. Collingwood drew within a goal four different times before coming up short.
With his high-octane showcase, MacAuley (6g, 11a) now sits tied for the OJHL post-season points lead with teammate Madden MacDougall, who notched his league-leading 10th goal and added two assists.
Luke Johnston tallied twice on the night, with Ivan Fabjan and Ashtyn Pacheco each recording a goal and an assist and Markus Hicks finishing with four helpers.
Should Milton prevail, they’ll most likely take on the Leamington Flyers, who ousted them in last year’s second round and now hold a 3-0 hammerlock on Buffalo.
