Cup semi final fever swept Swindon on Friday night as the Wildcats hosted the MK Lightning in the first leg of the tie.
The Wildcats started brightly and secured an early lead when Sam Bullas tipped a shot from Russ Cowley to make it 1-0 inside the opening two minutes. Tomasz Malasinski almost doubled the lead but his shot cannoned back off the post. The Lightning managed to tie the game up later in the period when Rory Herrman scored his first of the evening on the powerplay as the score finished 1-1 after 20 minutes of hockey.
The middle period would be one Swindon produced 17 shots to MK’s 7, however it would be the Lightning who scored the only goal of the period when Rory Herrman added his second goal on a breakaway to make it 1-2. Despite another couple of posts from the Cats through Gael Lubwele and Josh Shaw, the middle period finished with a 1-2 score after 40 minutes.
Into the third period and chances fell at both ends of the ice with Tim Wallace and Glenn Billing both generating opportunities for their teams. However with less than 10 minutes of hockey remaining in the tie, Tomasz Malasinski did manage to bring the game level with a low shot past Will Kerlin in the MK net.
With the clock running down, Chris Jones was able to ensure the Wildcats had a one goal lead going to Milton Keynes thanks to a goal inside the final minute, giving Swindon a 3-2 lead after the first leg.
