Chiefs advance to Western semis

KENNEWICK, Wash. - Eric Williams stopped 36 shots as the Spokane Chiefs defeated the Tri-City Americans 3-1 to win their Western Conference opening round series 4-1 in front of 3,889 at the Toyota Center on Saturday night.

Spokane advances to the conference semifinals for the third straight year, with its opponent yet to be determined.

Mike Aviani opened the scoring midway through the first period to give Spokane a 1-0 lead after one and extended the advantage to 2-0 on a power-play goal by Brenden Kichton in the second period.

Tri-City cut the deficit to 2-1 on Malte Stromwall's first goal of the series, but Alessio Bertaggia scored his second of the series to cap the scoring for Spokane with 4:51 remaining.

Tickets for the semifinal series go on sale Monday at 9 a.m. at Chiefs ticket outlets.