CORNWALL - Given up for dead two days ago, the Oakville Blades were very much alive at the Royal Bank Cup entering last night's action.

Oakville needed a victory against the Camrose Kodiaks last night(Thursday) in order to advance to the semifinal round of the national junior A hockey championship tournament in Cornwall. That contest began after the Beaver's press deadline; visit www.oakvillebeaver.com for coverage of last night's game.

Oakville might have caught a break by facing the top-seeded Kodiaks in its final round-robin match. Camrose won its first three games to lock up a first-place finish in the preliminary round before last night, and Kodiaks head coach Boris Rybalka planned to sit several of his regulars against the Blades.

Oakville (1-2) had an opportunity to clinch a spot in the semifinals yesterday afternoon if the Humboldt Broncos lost to the Weeks Crushers, but the Broncos won 4-1. Both Weeks and Oakville had one win entering last night's action, but Weeks owned the tiebreaker after beating the Blades 4-3 in overtime Monday.

The Blades avoided elimination Wednesday by surprising the Broncos, 7-6, to notch their first win of the tournament. Geoff Guimond led the way with a hat trick (though he was only officially credited with two goals), and Jeremy Welsh added a pair. Dustin Alcock and Lindsay Sparks had the other Oakville tallies, with Sparks' goal standing up as the winner.

The Blades led 3-2 after one, but a cough-up by Oakville sniper Nick McParland late in the second period led to a Humboldt shorthanded marker and gave the Broncos a 5-4 lead heading into the second intermission.

Rather than fold, the Blades came out firing in the third. Welsh tied the game 4:58 into the frame, Guimond completed his hat trick 47 seconds later, and Sparks added another goal at the seven-minute mark.

Humboldt made it 7-6 with 1:05 left in regulation.

"We just had to stay composed and focused. We were lacking confidence in the first two games," Guimond said. "Our veterans stepped up and said if we get a lead on them, we can hold it and pull off a victory."

Blades goalie Oliver Wren said he and his teammates wanted to get McParland off the hook.

"He's been an offensive threat all year. He was just trying to move the puck forward and get us a goal," said Wren. "We said we'd get it back for him. No one doubts what he does for a minute, cause he put us in his backpack and carried us through the Dudley (Hewitt Cup)."

The semifinals of the Royal Bank Cup will be played Saturday, with the championship game at 1 p.m. Sunday.