COCHRANE, Ont. – A Caleb Dolman goal late in the second period proved to be the difference maker as the Cochrane Crunch went on to edge the French River Rapids 2-1 in a low-scoring Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League match-up Saturday at Tim Horton Events Centre.
On a night where they honoured former Cochrane captain and NOJHL MVP Connor Lovie, by retiring his No. 74 jersey, the Crunch peppered French River starter Marshall Frappier with 21 shots against, but could not solve the Rapids netminder in a scoreless first frame.
The home side would eventually get on the board six and a half minutes into the middle stanza on Shadow Reuben’s fifth of the campaign.
It was more Crunch later in the second thanks to Dolman who notched his fifth at 16:49 to put Cochrane up by two after two.
French River cut into the deficit four minutes into the third to pull within one as Levi Siau and Philippe Daoust combined to set-up Will Frustaglio for his 12th of the season.
However, both Bradley Dobson in the Cochrane net and the Rapids’ Frappier shut the door offensively the rest of the way as the Crunch secured the home ice victory.
Dobson finished with 28 saves in picking up the win while Frappier ended up with 47 stops in the narrow setback.
NOTE: In recognition of his jersey retirement, Lovie, who is now in his first year playing OUA hockey for the Waterloo Warriors., skated in 200 league games for the Crunch and amassed over 100 points while earning two NOJHL Top Defenceman honours, multi league All-Star accolades, as well as earning the MVP in both the regular season and playoffs helping lead Cochrane to their first-ever championship in 2017-18.
