SUMMERSIDE - The Western Capitals came out on the short end of a 5-3 decision against the visitingDieppe Commandos Sunday afternoon in Maritime Junior A Hockey League action.
The Commandos (11-16-2-1) led 2-1 after the opening frame with a pair of powerplay markers, by Andrew Taylor and Patrick Lanteigne.
Cole MacMillan had the lone reply for the Caps (16-12-0-0), scoring at 5:57 from Robert MacEwan and Lance Pridham.
Dieppe added another late in the second to open up a 3-1 lead when Jean-Marc Leger beat Summerside netminder Paul Dorsey.
In the third, Leger found the mark again at 4:59, this time beating Jared Kelly who took over in the Summerside net.
The Caps came to life with a pair of markers to close the lead to 4-3 before the midway point of the period. Darcy Ashley tallied from Harrison McIver and Chad Earle at 6:42 and then McIver found the mark, assisted by Pridham and Matt Myers at 9:36.
The Commandos sealed the victory on Ryan MacDonald's empty-net goal with 27 seconds remaining, to round out the 5-3 final.
The Caps outshot the Commandos overall 37-28.
The Western Capitals now face the Christmas break, returning to action with a pair of weekend games in Yarmouth against the Mariners (Jan. 2 at 7:30 p.m. and Jan. 3 at 4 p.m.) Next home game for the Caps is Sunday, Jan. 10 when they host Weeks Crushers at 2 p.m.
