Derek Gingera had two goals and two assists and Darren Bestland had a goal and three helpers as the South East Prairie Thunder defeated the Elsipogtog Hawks 6-2 Tuesday at the 2018 Allan Cup in Rosetown.

"I think it was a really good battle," said Thunder forward Del Cowan who also scored twice. "The first two periods were back and forth and very even. In the third I think we were just able to capitalize on our scoring chances. It's not like they didn't get scoring chances but we were just able to find the back of the net in the third. It was nice to see some offence."

Tyler Dittmer also scored for the Prairie Thunder who put the game away with four unanswered third period goals.

Matt Stefanishion and Max St. Cyr replied for the Atlantic representatives.

The Hawks play their preliminary round finale today (5 p.m.) against the Bethune Bulldogs.

South East goaltender Steve Christie stopped 28 of the 30 shots he faced.

The Prairie Thunder finished the preliminary round with a win and a tie.

South East head coach Dustin Hughes feels his team is trending in the right direction in Saskatchewan.

"I had the pleasure of playing here a few years ago when I used to play with the Thunder. We had success here and we're looking at hopefully taking some steps in the right direction and so far we've been taking those steps. Hopefully that continues."

The Prairie Thunder, who will find out tonight if they play in the quarterfinals on Thursday or have a bye to the semifinals on Friday, have scheduled a short practice session for today in Saskatoon.