NORTHERN ONTARIO JUNIOR HOCKEY LEAGUE
NOJHL NETWORK MEDIA UPDATE
Release Date: Saturday, Oct. 8, 2016
Eskis surprise Thunderbirds
IROQUOIS FALLS, Ont. – Led by the their captain David Osborne’s two tallies and a 51-save performance by goaltender Artem Bortovskiy the Iroquois Eskis rallied from an early deficit and went on to surprise the defending Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League champion Soo Thunderbirds 6-2 Saturday evening at Jus Jordan Arena.
It was all Sault Ste. Marie in the first half of the opening period as they jumped out to a 2-0 lead on markers Ryan Waterhouse and Zach Senecal.
Osborne got the Eskis going at 13:07 of the period while Dillan Bruce and Josh Dejulio went on to score 64 seconds apart later in the frame to put the home side up 3-2 after one.
The lone goal of the middle stanza came via the power play at 3:54 on Osborne’s second of the night and third overall.
Riding on the momentum they generated, Iroquois Falls kept coming in the final frame to seal the come from behind triumph on offensive efforts supplied by Shadow Reuben’s seventh of the season and Grant Omyer’s initial NOJHL goal to wrap things up.
Wade Auger had had assists in aiding the cause for the Eskis.
Dougie Newhouse faced 35 attempts in a losing cause for the Soo.
With the result the Thunderbirds dropped their second straight on a weekend road trip that concludes Sunday after at Timmins beginning at 2 p.m. at McIntyre Arena.
The triumph was Iroquois Falls second of the campaign as they improved to 2-8-0-0 while the T-Birds dropped to 8-4-0-0.