HEARST, Ont. – Jake Desando tallied twice, including the game-winner, and added an assist in his Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League debut to lead the Hearst Lumberjacks to a 4-1 victory Sunday over the French River Rapids in their home opener in front of nearly 700 fans at Claude Larose Arena.
French River framed a perfect start for themselves by notching the game’s opening tally just 88 seconds into the contest as Marc-Andre Quevillion picked up his initial marker of the campaign.
Hearst answered right back however less than a minute later with George Young collecting his first NOJHL goal at 2:12.
The Lumberjacks then took the lead less than five minutes later with Desando also picking his initial league effort to put the home side up by one after one period of play.
Desando then notched his second of the day during a man advantage opportunity in the middle stanza to make it 3-1 after 40 minutes.
William Page then capped off the home ice win with the lone marker in the third as he too notched his initial league goal to cap off the triumph.
Maxim Lacroix chipped in with two assists for Hearst.
Nicholas Tallarico made 14 saves to record the decision for the Lumberjacks in his first league contest while Kevin Tardif faced 21 attempts in defeat for the Rapids.
Photos courtesy of Highway Eleven &Co.