Photos: Northern Lights Photography
HEARST, Ont. – The Hearst Lumberjacks saw Tyler Patterson tally three times as part of a 6-2 victory over the Soo Eagles in a Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League meeting Friday at Claude Larose Recreation Centre.
Notching his 25th NOJHL goal, Patterson put Hearst in front moments after a Sault Ste. Marie penalty had expired as he drove to the front of the net from the left side and lifted a backhand over netminder Logan Raffaele at 6:49.
Up a skater past the midway point of the proceedings, Patterson connected once more as he finished off a point shot that was tipped before he deposited it into the open right corner.
The Lumberjacks then went up by three early in the third off a draw and saw Emile Pichette slide a pass over to defenceman Ethan Kitsch, who moved in a wired one high over the blocker of Raffaele.
Not done there, Hearst scored again off another faceoff as Mathieu Comeau was left alone at the left of the net to knock in a loose puck that bounded in front off the end boards.
Getting one back 37 seconds later, Sault Ste. Marie’s Jack Mortson notched his team-leading 15th of the season as he buried a Nolan Hendry feed from in close on Lumberjacks goalkeeper Matteo Gennaro.
The Lumberjacks power play then went to work at 9:10 and saw Zachary Demers set-up Patterson for a tap in to complete his hat trick.
Hearst’s Cody Walker added his club’s sixth of the night as he buried a nice pass across the ice by Brandan Tronchin.
The Eagles did get one more right after that, thanks to Coby Fox, who darted in along the right side and banked one in on Gennaro with less than seven minutes remaining to round out the scoring.
With the outcome, the Lumberjacks improved to 17-6-2-0 on the season while the Eagles fell to 11-8-2-0 overall.