POWASSAN, Ont. – Alex Little scored twice, including once on a penalty shot, to help send the Powassan Voodoos past the Hearst Lumberjacks 5-3 Sunday evening, in Game 6 of their Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League East Division semifinal at the Powassan Sportsplex.
With the result, the Voodoos take the best-of-seven match-up 4-2 and now move on to meet the Timmins Rock in the East final.
The night’s opening tally came with seven and a half minutes left in the first period after Powassan’s Liam Serviss was obstructed as he went in alone and saw the home side awarded the penalty shot.
With Little elected to take the attempt, the Voodoos captain went in and deked to his right and saw the puck roll off his stick briefly, but he quickly reached out and managed to steer it under Hearst netminder Ethan Dinsdale.
Coming back to tie it at 14:55, Cameron Shepheard knocked in the equalizer off a rebound via an Emile Pichette attempt from the top of the right circle.
Heading into the second stanza knotted at one, Powassan retook the lead in transition and saw Michael MacLean power his way through a couple of defenders and put one past Dinsdale.
Tying it once more, the Lumberjacks made it 2-2 with just under five minutes to play in the session when a Pichette pass was steered in by Tyler Patterson, for his third of the playoffs.
Restoring their edge, Powassan struck twice in the latter portion of the frame to take a 4-2 lead to the intermission.
The Voodoos’ third of the evening came when Tucker Shields got control of a long feed and went hard to the net where he fired connected at 18:07.
Coming right back, the hosts tacked on another off an odd-man rush that saw Jack Kelly credited with the marker, that was deemed by the official as having gone in.
Continuing to battle, Hearst got back to within one, with 14:43 left in regulation when Mason Svarich made an impressive dash down the right wing boards before driving to the net and tucking his chance between the legs of Powassan netminder Kannon Flageolle.
Getting their goalie out late for an extra skater, the Lumberjacks pushed to force overtime, but the Voodoos held on to secure the win and set-up a meeting with Timmins for the divisional title.
The game schedule for that, as well as the West final between the Greater Sudbury Cubs and Soo Thunderbirds, will be announced by the NOJHL, once they are finalized.
NOJHL East Division semifinal
Hearst Lumberjacks vs. Powassan Voodoos
Game 1: Voodoos 8 Lumberjacks 4
Game 2: Voodoos 4 Lumberjacks 3
Game 3: Lumberjacks 3 Voodoos 2
Game 4: Voodoos 6 Lumberjacks 1
Game 5: Lumberjacks 7 Voodoos 3
Game 6: Voodoos 5 Lumberjacks 3
Powassan wins best-of-seven series 4-2
“Highlight of the Night” – NOJHL YouTube Channel