HEARST, Ont. – The Soo Eagles first-ever visit to Hearst was a memorable one as they rallied with three unanswered third period goals to defeat the hometown Lumberjacks 5-3 in a Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League match-up Thursday night at Claude Larose Arena.
Action in the first frame did see Hearst strike quickly beginning with Nikko Morin notching his initial NOJHL tally at 3:20.
The Lumberjacks then came right back on the next shift with Colin Boudreau making it 2-0 just 37 seconds later on as he collected his seventh of the campaign.
Skating in their initial contest in Hearst, Sault Ste. Marie got on the board at 12:04 with Thomas Dyball supplying his first league marker to cut the deficit in half heading into the middle stanza.
In that second period, the home side regained their two-goal cushion at 4:46 as Max Johnson connected finishing off the work of newcomer Chris Pedersen and Samuel Bourdages.
However the visiting Eagles cut into the deficit once more in the latter stages of the frame, via the power play, when Christian Bardarson picked up his team-leading 18th goal of the season at 16:22.
Heading into the third, the Soo drew level at 13:46 with Bardarson picking up his second on the night to up his club cushion in tallies as he converted once again during a man advantage opportunity.
The Eagles kept coming and got the game-winner from Dyball with 2:20 left in regulation.
They then capped off the comeback with a Kobe Keller empty netter to round out the scoring.
Nick Techel had two assists to aid the Soo offensive cause as did Hayden Clark and George Orfanos.
Carter McPhail handled 23 of 26 attempts in net for the Eagles in picking up the win while Hearst’s Nicholas Dube started for the Lumberjacks and saw 39 shots in defeat.
Photos courtesy of Jimmy Cote Photography