Kingston finishes first in PBC round robin

NORTHERN ONTARIO JUNIOR HOCKEY LEAGUE

NOJHL NETWORK MEDIA UPDATE

Release Date: Saturday, Sept. 3, 2016

Kingston finishes first in PBC round robin

COCHRANE, Ont. – The Kingston Voyageurs skated out to a three-goal first period lead and never trailed en route to a 6-3 triumph over the Espanola Express Saturday night in Game No. 10 of the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League’s Polar Bear Classic preseason tournament at the Tim Horton Event Centre.

The game had a late start due to issues with the ice resurfacer that caused Game 9 between Cochrane and Kirkland Lake, that was supposed to begin at 6 p.m., being delayed until after the Voyageurs – Express contest.

When they finally did get going, Kingston opened up the night’s scoring six and a half minutes into the game as Andrew Suriyuth put the Ontario Junior Hockey League side in front.

The Voyageurs kept coming and tacked on two more in the session via a Riley Manion power play marker and one at even strength courtesy of Nick Zarichny.

Espanola battled back in the second to pull within one with Riley Nadeau and Mitchal Payette supplying early tallies in the frame.

Kingston regrouped however and tacked on two more of their own before the middle session was complete thanks to Will Cavezzario and former NOJHLer Brett Ouderkirk.

The two sides then traded goals in the third to round out the scoring as Jason Bednarski connected for Espanola and Rob Clerc countering for the Vees.

Dominick Lavergne had two assists in defeat for the Express.

Kingston out shot Espanola 50-41 on the night with Jeremy Wassan earning the win and Andrew Rocha the loss.

Both teams now advance to the PBC semifinals Sunday vs. yet to be determined opponents.

One more Polar Bear Classic round robin game remains and that features a first place showdown between the 1-2 Cochrane Crunch and 0-3 Kirkland Lake Gold Miners to decide the fourth semifinalist. The 2-2 Iroquois Falls has also earned a berth in Sunday’s final four.

Kingston will meet the No. 4 ranked club at 10 a.m. while the second and third place squads will face-off at noon.

Sunday’s championship game will feature the semifinal winners meeting up at 7 p.m. back in Cochrane.

Polar Bear Classic Schedule/Results
@ Tim Horton Event Centre – Cochrane, Ont.

Thursday, Sept. 1
Iroquois Falls 5 Espanola 4
Kingston (OJHL) 3 Cochrane 2

Friday, Sept. 2
Cochrane 5 Iroquois Falls 4
Kingston (OJHL) 4 Kirkland Lake 2
Iroquois Falls 3 Kirkland Lake 2
Espanola 6 Cochrane 5

Saturday, Sept. 3
Kingston (OJHL) 4 Iroquois Falls 1
Espanola 4 Kirkland Lake 3
Kingston (OJHL) 6 vs. Espanola 3
Cochrane vs. Kirkland Lake 11 p.m.

Sunday, Sept. 4
Semifinal A: 4th round robin vs. No. 1 Kingston (OJHL) 10 a.m.
Semifinal B: 3rd round robin vs. 2nd round robin 12 p.m.
Final: Semifinal A winner vs. Semifinal B winner 7 p.m.