Members of the Cornwall Colts celebrate after defeating Kanata Thursday night to win their first-round playoff series in five games.

PHOTO CREDIT - Robert Lefebvre/www.icelevel.com

Cornwall - Mar. 17, 2011 - The Cornwall Colts are now one step closer to the Central Hockey League championship.

The Colts defeated the Kanata Stallions 5-1 on Thursday night before a lively crowd of 1,429 at the Cornwall Civic Complex to clinch the first-round playoff series in five games.

The Colts will now get at least a couple of days to recover from a heated series that will be remembered for the controversial Game 3 on Sunday in which emotions boiled over on both sides of the ice.

As was the case with most of the series, the focus on Thursday night was once again on the Stallions' crease.

With starting goalie Scott Shackell still sidelined from the Game 3 collision with Colts forward Michael Borkowski, many expected to see regular back-up Travis Wilkins tending the crease on Thursday. However, that wasn't the case as the Stallions turned to another goalie from another team (presumably through the league's emergency goaltender rule that can be used in the event of injuries).

Ed Zdolshek traded in his regular Ottawa Junior Senators jersey for a Stallions jersey, however the goalie change didn't prove to be much of a factor as the Colts fired 55 shots on net, with five getting past him.

The Stallions struck first roughly midway through the first period on a goal by Kyle Rankin, however Cody Sarmiento evened things up a few minutes later.

The Colts added four more goals - all of them on the powerplay - to secure the victory and punch their tickets to the second round.

Tyson Spink, Kyle Baun, Sean Blunden and Kevin Cole had the other markers for the Colts.

Unlike the heated Game 3 encounter on Sunday night, Thursday's contest was mostly trouble-free, although Kanata's Brandon Bussey receieved a five-minute major and a game misconduct for head contact for a hit on Colts defenceman Leslie Lavictoire.

The Colts will now have to wait to see the outcome of the other playoff series before knowing who their second-round opponent will be.

Pembroke has also advanced to the second round after sweeping Smiths Fall in four games, while Gloucester is leading Carleton Place 3-2 in their series and Brockville and Nepean are tied 3-3, with Game 7 going tonight.