The Seibu Railways Bears got two goals from Hideyuki Ueno on Saturday at Shin-Yokohama Ice Arena as they skated to a 4-1 win over the Kokudo Bunnies in Game 3 of the Japan Ice Hockey League finals, taking a 2-1 lead in the best-of-five series.
Seibu can wrap up its 11th JIHL title with a victory in Game 4, which goes this afternoon at Shin-Yokohama. Kokudo has been crowned league champion 10 times. Game 5, if necessary, will be played Tuesday evening at Higashi-Fushimi.
"We just didn't stick to our game plan," said dejected Kokudo forward Shin Yahata after the game. "We'll have to jump on them from the beginning tomorrow and get the series back to Higashi-Fushimi."
Seibu outshot Kokudo 34-28.