Who had the most incentive in last night's Southern Professional Hockey League game between Richmond and Twin City?

The Renegades could have clinched home ice in the opening round of the playoffs, but the Cyclones needed a victory just to earn a berth in the postseason.

Twin City was the more desperate team, evidently, and pulled out a 4-3 victory over the Renegades in front of an announced crowd of 6,819 at the Coliseum.

Donald Melnyk had a hat trick for Richmond, but it didn't prevent the Renegades from finishing in fourth place, one point behind Fayetteville, which beat Jacksonville to end up in third.

Richmond only needed one point in its last two games to finish in third and was unable to get it. The Renegades lost to Fayetteville on Friday.

That means the first-round, best-of-three series will begin Friday in Fayetteville, with Game 2 set for the Coliseum on Saturday. Game 3, if necessary, will be in Fayetteville on April 1.

In a back-and-forth third period, the Cyclones took a 3-2 lead on a power-play goal by John Gurskis at 8:42. Richmond answered less than two minutes later when Melnyk completed his hat trick with a rebound goal.

Sean Walsh scored the game-winner with 8:44 left when he got away from a fallen defender and skated across the goalmouth to beat goaltender Ryan Senft. The Renegades couldn't solve goalie Kevin Druce again, and No. 5 Twin City will open the playoffs against No. 2 Jacksonville.

Richmond (27-22-3) had whipped the Cyclones (23-25-4) seven straight times but couldn't beat them when it counted most. The Renegades were 9-3 vs. Twin City.

TWO MEN DOWN: The Cyclones needed a two-man advantage to score the only goal of the opening period.

With defenseman Clay Lewis already in the penalty box for hooking, referee Jarrod Ragus sent defenseman Mike Owens off on a questionable holding call.

That gave Twin City a 5-on-3 for 1:23, and the Renegades came close to wiping it out, but Taylor Hustead took a pass in front and beat Senft with :12 left on the first penalty.

A few minutes earlier, Richmond forward Dennis Sicard went down trying to avoid a collision with Ragus. He stayed on the ice for several minutes before getting to his feet and skating off to the locker room.

Sicard returned for the second period and played a regular shift the rest of the way.

BACK IN THE GAME: After allowing the Cyclones to assume a 2-0 advantage a minute and a half into the second frame, the Renegades mounted a comeback.

But not before Ragus waved off an apparent goal that he said was kicked in shortly after the earlier score.

Richmond cut the lead in half when defenseman Dan Vandermeer knocked down a pass in the Renegades' end and found Melnyk ahead of the pack. Melnyk skated in alone and beat Druce with a backhander at 3:48.

The Renegades didn't draw even until getting their fifth power play late in the period. They finally capitalized with a man advantage, when Melnyk, stationed in front of the crease, took a pass from Trevor Karasiewicz and one-timed the puck under Druce with 41.9 seconds left to tie it.

LEGENDARY NIGHT: In the preliminary Legends of Richmond Hockey game, the White team defeated the Black squad 14-7. Former coach John Brophy directed the Black team while Jeff Croop guided the White squad.

Scott Gruhl and Bryan McKinney led the winners, while Goudie and Richard Pitirri were the Black team's top players. Bob Jones was the winning goalie.

ON DECK: The Renegades will open the playoffs in Fayetteville on Friday and return to the Coliseum for Game 2 on Saturday (7:35).

Twin City ------------------------- 1 1 2 -- 4
Richmond ------------------------- 0 2 1 -- 3

First Period -- 1, Twin City, Hustead 25 (Moore, Druce), 16:55 (pp). Penalties -- Walsh, TC (tripping), 11:16; Lewis, Rich (hooking), 15:06; Owens, Rich (holding), 15:43; Falco, TC (slashing), 17:57.

Second Period -- 2, Twin City, Gebara 2 (Cassells, Moore), 1:28. 3, Richmond, Melnyk 24 (Vandermeer), 3:48. 4, Richmond, Melnyk 25 (Karasiewicz, Gill), 19:18 (pp). Penalties -- Hustead, TC (tripping), 6:49; Joy, Rich (roughing), 9:28; Falco, TC (holding), 14:12; Schmit, TC (hooking), 17:57.

Third Period -- 5, Twin City, Gurskis 17 (Moore, Sirois), 8:42 (pp). 6, Richmond, Melnyk 26 (Gill, Karasiewicz), 10:26 (pp). 7, Twin City, Walsh 2 (Kubaliak, Piro), 11:16. Penalties -- Lewis, Rich (cross-checking), 3:54; Patrick, Rich (high-sticking), 7:54; Gurskis, TC (hooking), 9:56; Bartle, TC (high-sticking), 12:11; Melnyk, Rich, misconduct, 20:00.

Shots on goal -- Twin City 9-6-7 -- 22. Richmond 15-14-13 -- 39. Power-play opportunities -- Twin City 2 of 5, Richmond 2 of 7. Goalies -- Twin City: Druce 10-12-2 (39 shots-36 saves), Richmond: Senft 18-14-1 (22-18). Referee: Jarrod Ragus. A -- 6,819.