Photos: Marc Longval
HEARST, Ont. – A solid all-around by the Hearst Lumberjacks saw Matteo Gennaro post his first Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League shutout in blanking the Cochrane Crunch 6-0 Sunday at the Claude Larose Recreation Centre.
Hearst opened the scoring via the power play as Dylan Ford drove into the Cochrane zone and sent a pass out in front where Mathieu Comeau had a couple of whacks at the puck before putting it by Crunch starter Ben DiGiallonardo at 15:47.
Heading to middle stanza, the Lumberjacks pumped 23 shots on net and scored three times with Brayden Palfi, Robbie Rutledge and Tyren Grimsdale all scoring for the hosts.
A third man advantage marker for Hearst came 31 seconds into the final frame when captain Dylan Ford buried his first of the campaign.
They then wrapped up the home ice triumph eight minutes after that on a Carson Cox connection.
Alex Hunt and Zachary Demers chipped in with two assists apiece to aid Hearst in the win.
Gennaro finished with 26 saves in the shutout while Cochrane’s DiGiallonardo was extremely busy in defeat, as he saw 65 shots fired on target.