PHOTOS: Petrah Joehl – Sudbury Light Event Photography
SUDBURY, Ont. – Soo Thunderbirds netminder Connor Hatfield turned aside every shot he faced Wednesday to post his Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League-leading second shutout of the season in blanking the Hearst Lumberjacks 3-0 in Day 2 play of the NOJHL Showcase at Gerry McCrory Countryside Sports Complex.
Sault Ste. Marie notched the initial tally of the contest, eight and a half minutes into the proceedings, on Lucas DeBerardino’s first NOJHL goal, when he knocked in a cross-crease feed from Declan Gallivan past Hearst starter Russ Decoste.
On the power play heading into the middle stanza, the Thunderbirds connected 53 seconds in when Grayson Ebrahim put a pass in front that was steered in by Jacob Smith.
Carrying their cushion into the final frame, the Soo secured the victory with a shorthanded, empty netter off the stick on Daniel Beaupre in the latter stages of the contest to round out the afternoon’s scoring
Each goaltender was tabbed with their team’s player of the game accolades.
The win sees the Thunderbirds improve to 5-3-2-1 on the year while the Lumberjacks slipped to 5-4-0-1.
