FRENCH RIVER – The French River Rapids picked up two goals apiece from Chad LaFortune and Andrew Gavros to help send then on their way to an 8-1 triumph over the Espanola Express Tuesday night in a Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League exhibition contest at Noelville Arena.
French River came out flying by grabbing a 3-0 lead after one period of play on a pair of markers from LaFortune along with a single courtesy of Cooper Bowman.
The Rapids added to the onslaught in the middle stanza, outscoring Espanola 4-1 in the session.
Gavros collected his two tallies in the frame with Alex Paul and Davin Van de Zilver also getting on the scoreboard.
Scoring for the Express in the second was Chase Lammi with Carson Bayoff earning an assist on the play midway through the match-up.
Jacob Fahey then rounded out the night’s scoring with 6:34 remaining in regulation.
Philippe Daoust chipped in with three assists for French River.
Kevin Tardif started in net for the Rapids and picked up the win.
Ryan Hale and Owen Kilganon both saw time in goal for Espanola in defeat, seeing a combined 40 shots against.
