NORTHERN ONTARIO JUNIOR HOCKEY LEAGUE
NOJHL COMMUNICATIONS
MEDIA RELEASE
Release Date: Thursday, March 28, 2013
Warmington paces Soo past Sudbury in series opener
SAULT STE. MARIE – The Soo Thunderbirds got a hat-trick and an assist from Brandon Warmington to help lead them to a 4-1 victory over the Sudbury Nickel Barons in game 1 of their Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League semifinal series at Essar Centre.
Warmington set-up Darcy Casola for the opening tally 6:14 into the contest and then notched his first of the night midway through the opening session to put the Thunderbirds up a pair after 20 minutes.
He then potted marker No. 2 just 47 seconds into the second stanza, which spelled the end of Sudbury starter Michael Muzyka’s night in favour of Alex Laino the rest of the way.
The Nickel Barons’ Ryan Punkari dashed the shutout bid of Joel Horodziejczyk with 3:11 remaining in the contest, but Warmington iced it less than a minute later by capping off his three-goal performance to round out the scoring.
Horodziejczyk finished with 24 stops to pick-up the win while Muzyka had five saves on eight shots and was saddled with the loss.
Laino made 15 saves in nearly 40 minutes of relief.
The series now moves to McClelland Arena in Copper Cliff for game 2 of the best-of-seven affair Saturday night at 7:30 p.m.
The NOJHL’s other semifinal series will commence Saturday as the North Bay Trappers host the Kirkland Lake Gold Miners in a 7 p.m. start at Memorial Gardens.
NOJHL Playoffs: Round 2
Semifinals
Series D
No. 1 North Bay Trappers vs. No. 4 Kirkland Lake Gold Miners
Best-of-seven series tied 0-0
Game 1: Saturday, March 30 @ North Bay 7 p.m. (Memorial Gardens)
Game 2: Sunday, March 31 @ North Bay 7 p.m. (Memorial Gardens)
Game 3: Friday, April 5 @ Kirkland Lake 7:30 p.m. (Joe Mavrinac)
Game 4: Saturday, April 6 @ Kirkland Lake 7:30 p.m. (Joe Mavrinac)
Game 5*: Monday, April 8 @ North Bay 7 p.m. (Memorial Gardens)
Game 6*: Tuesday, April 9 @ Kirkland Lake 7:30 p.m. (Joe Mavrinac)
Game 7*: Thursday, April 11 @ North Bay 7 p.m. (Memorial Gardens)
* – if necessary
Series E
No. 2 Soo Thunderbirds vs. 3 Sudbury Nickel Barons
Thunderbirds lead best-of-seven series 1-0
Game 1: Soo 4 Sudbury 1
Game 2: Saturday, March 30 @ Sudbury 7:30 p.m. (McClelland)
Game 3: Tuesday, April 2 @ Soo 7:30 p.m. (Essar Centre)
Game 4: Wednesday, April 3 @ Sudbury 7:30 p.m. (McClelland)
Game 5*: Friday, April 5 @ Soo 7:30 p.m. (Essar Centre)
Game 6*: Monday, April 8 @ Sudbury 7:30 p.m. (McClelland)
Game 7*: Wednesday, April 10 @ Soo 7:30 p.m. (Essar Centre)
* – if necessary
