NORTHERN ONTARIO JUNIOR HOCKEY LEAGUE
NOJHL MEDIA UPDATE
Release Date: Sunday, Oct. 19, 2014
Streaking Soo wins 9th straight
MATTAWA – The red-hot Soo Thunderbirds skated to their ninth consecutive Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League victory Sunday afternoon after dropping the Mattawa Blackhawks 8-4 at Mike Rodden Arena.
The Thunderbirds came out flying in this building a 3-0 lead in the opening 12 minutes on markers by Nathan Hebert and a pair by Nicolas Sicoly to spell an early end to Mattawa starter Josh Horner’s day.
After Henry Yawit connected on the power play for the Blackhawks at 14:09, Sault Ste. Marie countered with a couple of man advantage efforts of their own by Anthony Miller and Matt Busby to up 5-1 after 20 minutes.
In the second the T-Birds added to their lead at 6:33 courtesy of Joey Miller before Mattawa’s Kyle Baril added one on the power play for the Hawks 80 seconds later.
Eric Hillock then struck shorthanded for Sault Ste. Marie at 15:53 to make 7-2 heading into the final frame.
Special teams allowed Mattawa to draw closer in the third as they got power play markers Jimmy Philbin and Andy Williams, but the Thunderbirds’ Hebert rounded out the scoring in the final moments with his second of the game.
Joey Miller finished with three assists to go along with his goal for a four-point contest.
Marino Culina made 41 saves to record the win for the Sault as they improved to 11-2 on the season. Their 22 points also moves them into the league lead for top spot overall with Kirkland Lake while also holding a game in hand on the Gold Miners.
Horner and Joe Sheppard combined to face 45 shots in defeat Mattawa as they slipped to 1-11-0-1 on the season.
Next up on the NOJHL slate has 9-3-0-2 Sudbury at home to 10-4 Cochrane Wednesday at McClelland Arena. Game time is 7:30 p.m.
