Former NHLer Pierre Dagenais scored the game-winner to give the Akwesasne Warriors a 4-3 win over the New York Aviators in Game 1 of the FHL Finals.

PHOTO CREDIT - Allison Papineau

Cornwall - Mar. 20, 2011 - Former NHLer Pierre Dagenais marked his return to the Akwesasne Warriors in a typical way - by scoring a goal.

But it wasn't just any goal. The big sniper - who had played part of the season in Norway - scored the game-winning goal for Akwesasne as they came from behind to beat the New York Aviators 4-3 in Game 1 of the Federal Hockey League finals on Saturday night.

Akwesasne's Dan Tessier connected in the first minute of play to give the Warriors an early 1-0 lead. However, the Aviators responded with three straight goals from Casey Mignone, Matthew Puntereri and Andrew Scampoli to take a 3-1 lead into the second period.

Carter Trevisani - who recently rejoined the Warriors fold along with Dagenais - connected in the middle frame to cut the lead to 3-2.

The final period comeback started early in the third when Ahmed Mahfouz scored for the Warriors, and it was cemented when Dagenais scored with about 15 minutes left to play.

The teams will be back at it tonight for Game 2 of the series. The inaugural championship series will shift back to Akwesasne on Friday night for Game 3.