Warriors forward Joshua Desmarais attempts to slide the puck past Privateers goalie Richard Sillery during Federal Hockey League action Saturday on Cornwall Island. Thousand Islands won the game 5-2.

PHOTO CREDIT - Allison Papineau

Cornwall Island - Feb. 6, 2011 - What started off as a race for top spot in the Federal Hockey League quickly turned into a race against time for the Warriors on Saturday night.

The Thousand Island Privateers pulled ahead in the second period and the Warriors were unable to mount a comeback on home ice against their rivals from Alexandria Bay, eventually losing 5-2.

With the win, the Privateers completed a sweep of a home-and-home series against Akwesasne, having defeated them 4-2 a night earlier. More importantly, the win moved the Privateers to within one point of the league-leading Warriors, who sit atop of the FHL with a 28-14 record (56 points).

The Warriors were still missing a few of their top players on Saturday, with David Plouffe, Ahmed Mahfouz and Patrick Deraspe out of the line up. Deraspe will return to the ice later this week after serving a five game suspension for a gross misconduct handed out as a result of a dispute he had with a referee in a previous contest.

On Saturday, the Privateers struck first on the scoreboard on a goal from Marcus Pryde at the 12:50 mark of the first period. The Warriors countered the attack by scoring eight seconds later on a goal from newcomer Travis Stacey.

Soon after, the crowd of 332 rose to their feet as Warriors tough guy Kyle Lagace squared off with Will Laporte.

The Akwesasne Warriors seemed to struggle to get a puck past Privateers netminder Richard Sillery in the second period. At the other end of the ice, Nick Filion made some nice saves for the Warriors, but he was unable to keep the score tied on his own. Privateers sniper Alex Goupil scored three straight goals in the middle frame and his teammate Adam McAllister scored another one roughly midway through the third period to seal the deal for Thousand Islands. The Warriors responded with a late goal by Chad Bazin, but that was all they could muster.

The Warriors will have a chance to redeem themselves on Wednesday as the Privateers return to Cornwall Island for another rematch (gametime is 7:05 p.m.). Akwesasne will need to ensure a different outcome on the scoreboard in order to maintain their first place standing in the FHL.