Brock Baier put up a shutout in goal as the Listowel Cyclones beat the London Nationals 3-0 Saturday night at the Western Fair Centre.
The Sutherland Cup semifinal series is now knotted at a game apiece.
The first period was scoreless, though each team had one penalty kill during those first 20 minutes of play. London's Richard Whittaker was written up for goalie interference and Listowel's Brenden Clayton took a holding penalty that carried into the second period.
The Cyclones broke the scoreless tie in the second period when Ben VanOoteghem scored his second goal in as many games. That gave Listowel a 1-0 lead after two periods of play.
The lead was doubled at just over a minute into the third period when the Cyclones' Chayse Herrfort scored for a 2-0 lead. It remained that way until late in the period when Nationals goalie Cameron Zanussi was pulled for an extra attacker and Listowel's Jamie Huber took advantage, scoring an empty-netter to strengthen the shutout.
Zanussi did make 25 saves in goal for the Nationals. Baier knocked away all 36 shots sent in his direction.
Game 3 of the best-of-seven series is Monday night in Listowel. Puck drop is at 7:30pm and all the action can be heard live on www.cknx.ca.
