The way last night's playoff game between Richmond and Fayetteville had gone, the ending seemed almost inevitable.

Although No. 3 seed Fayetteville had scored first and regained the lead every time the fourth-seeded Renegades answered, there would be no chance for Richmond to come back in sudden-death overtime.

After battling back twice in the third period to force OT, Richmond lost 5-4 when Rob Sich scored the game-winner 9:01 into the extra session before 3,124 at the Coliseum.

The victory was the FireAntz' second in as many nights and gave the defending Southern Professional Hockey League champions a sweep of the best-of-three, first-round series.

Fayetteville advances to the next round, where it will meet the winner of another first-rounder between No. 2 Jacksonville and No. 5 Twin City.

Despite outshooting Fayetteville 55-30, the Renegades were unable to extend their season past the first round for the second straight season.

Fayetteville goaltender Chad Collins, who led the FireAntz to the title last season, had 51 saves and finished with 91 in two games.

Both teams took turns scoring in the third period, with Dennis Sicard's second goal of the game -- and third of the series -- with 2:32 left leading to the extra session.

After the Renegades threatened early in the third by swarming Collins, Justin Keller scored on a one-timer down low from Sich at 4:00 to give the FireAntz a 3-2 edge.

But Richmond answered on a nice play by Justin Joy, who took a pass from Drew Madeiros, skated around in the left circle with a defender on him and beat Collins high at 10:59.

Fayetteville again gained the lead when Marc Norrington fired a slap shot from the Richmond logo and somehow the puck eluded goalie Ryan Senft, who had a clear look at it but couldn't stop it with 5:59 to go.

After Senft denied B.J. Stephens on a short-handed breakaway that could have wrapped it up, Sicard knocked in the rebound of a shot by Joy to tie it 4-4.

The opening period looked like it was going to end scoreless until each team scored in the final three minutes.

After the Renegades failed to take advantage of four power plays, the FireAntz scored first when defenseman Mike Fournier, who came out of retirement and is a weekend player now, beat Senft from right on.

With a Fayetteville power play just under way, Fournier took a feed from Matt Moreland and skated down the slot to slide a backhander inside the near post at 17:15.

Richmond tied it with 49.2 seconds left in the period. Defenseman Bret Norris brought the puck down the right wing and left a drop pass for Brett Needham, who one-timed it under Collins.

Fayetteville took a 2-1 lead midway through the second frame, thanks to yet another power-play goal. Moreland scored on the rebound of a shot by Stephens, whose effort bounced off Senft before Moreland tipped it into the goal at 11:03.

After Donald Melnyk almost drew Richmond even with a shot off the crossbar late in the period, the Renegades finally cashed in on their 14th power play of the series.

Sicard took a pass from Andre Gill and delivered a shot from the hashmarks that glanced off one of Collins' pads and behind him with :54 to go to deadlock it at 2-2.

As the horn sounded ending the period, Sich and Dan Vandermeer, who were involved in several shoving matches in the two games, almost got into it but the linesmen broke it up.

Forward Jason Price, who wasn't expected to dress this weekend because of a broken finger, was on the Renegades' bench and got into the game twice during power plays in the second period.

Fayetteville ------------------------- 1 1 2 1 -- 5
Richmond ------------------------- 1 1 2 0 -- 4

First Period -- 1, Fayetteville, Fournier 1 (Moreland, Cole), 17:15 (pp). 2, Richmond, Needham 1 (Norris), 19:10. Penalties -- Vandermeer, Rich (cross-checking), 3:16; Schremp, Fay (interference), 6:39; Snyder, Fay (hooking), 9:28; Needham, Rich (goalie interference), 9:59; Pszenyczny, Fay (tripping), 11:25; Fournier, Fay (cross-checking), 15:06; Melnyk, Rich (hooking), 16:30.

Second Period -- 3, Fayetteville, Moreland 1 (Stephens, Norrington), 11:03 (pp). 4, Richmond, Sicard 2 (Gill, Karasiewicz), 19:06 (pp). Penalties -- Robertson, Fay (interference), 2:56; Melnyk, Rich (cross-checking), 9:34; Sicard, Rich (boarding), 11:42; Snyder, Fay (tripping), 17:34.

Third period -- 5, Fayetteville, Keller 1 (Sich), 4:00. 6, Richmond, Joy 1 (Madeiros, Lyke), 10:59. 7, Fayetteville, Norrington 1 (Stephens, Moreland), 14:01. 8, Richmond, Sicard 3 (Joy, Needham), 17:28. Penalties -- Velemirovich, Fay (hooking), 15:01.

Overtime -- 9, Fayetteville, Sich 1 (Moreland, Velemirovich), 9:01. Penalties -- None.

Shots on goal -- Fayetteville 9-5-13-3 --30. Richmond 14-19-15-7 -- 55. Power-play opportunities -- Fayetteville 2 of 4; Richmond 1 of 7. Goalies -- Fayetteville, Collins 2-0 (55 shots-51 saves). Richmond, Senft 0-2 (30-25). Referee -- Nick Krebsbach. A -- 3,124.