The Yarmouth Mariners are a loss away from playoff elimination.

They fell 3-1 to the Summerside Western Capitals in Game 4 of their first round series in Yarmouth Saturday.

The Mariners now trail their Eastlink South Division semifinal 3-1.

Game 5 is Tuesday night in Summerside.

The fourth game of the series was another war in front of over 1,400 fans.

Summerside’s Liam Duquette scored 31 seconds into the first period.

The Caps would widen their lead to 2-0 early in the third thanks to Paul Hughes.

The Mariners’ Ethan Hoffe broke Drew Sim’s shutout bid with a late third period goal, as the Mariners once again wouldn’t go away.

The Caps were able to ice it with an empty netter from Jonah MacDonald.

Sim was named first star of the game, as he robbed the Mariners with several fantastic glove saves.

Yarmouth’s Head Coach Laurie Barron says they battled hard, but that one stings.

“You can’t win scoring one goal a night. We’ve played solidly, but our powerplay has dried up (0-for-10 combined in Games 3 and 4). We’re not creating enough scoring chances, but we’ve battled. The boys are working hard, we haven’t had lot of puck luck around the net,” said Barron.

Thomas Fontaine was stellar once again for the Mariners, making 33 saves.

In order for there to be hockey again this season at Mariners Centre, Yarmouth will have to steal Game 5.

“It’s the first to four, that’s a proud group in there, and they don’t want this family to be broken up. We’ll have a good effort on Tuesday,” added Barron.

The Mariners were missing forwards Ty Broten and Sam Hope from their lineup.

If necessary, Game 6 would be Thursday night at Mariners Centre, Game 7 would go Saturday, March 30 in Summerside.