Photos: Tanner Wallace (Tan Tan Photography)
POWASSAN, Ont. – Continuing their current winning ways, the Powassan collected their sixth straight Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League triumph Saturday as the dropped the Soo Thunderbirds 4-2 at the Powassan Sportsplex.
A solid start saw the Voodoos skate out to an early lead before the game was six minutes old.
Anthony Boyes got the initial tally as he got to a loose puck that Sault Ste. Marie starter Ryan Hicks could not corral and slid in his 11th of the season.
A couple of shifts later, Ryan Saginaw sent a feed back to the point where Reid de Bokx lifted a shot through traffic that sailed past the blocker of Hicks.
With that, the Thunderbirds opted to make a goaltending change, as Cameron Boville entered in relief.
Moving to the middle frame, Powassan clicked on the power play to go up by three as Marcus Krats snagged a clearing attempt with his glove then fed a crisp pass over to Dylan Rousselle who promptly whipped it by Boville to run a point streak to eight consecutive outings.
The T-Birds got one back at the tail-end of a man advantage opportunity of their own when Aiden Atkinson drove hard down the right wing then left a drop pass for James Legler who blasted it past Voodoos’ goalkeeper Cole Vreugdenhil at 8:24.
Getting that back deep in the stanza, Jackson Marnell put his side up 4-1 after 40 minutes by knocking in a pinballing puck in close.
Inching closer with under 10 minutes to play, Soo defenceman Max DeCoff cranked in a one-timer off a draw after being teed up by Gianmarco Mastroianni.
Getting Boville out for an extra attacker, the Thunderbirds looked to get within a goal, or more, in the late going, but Powassan held the fort to secure the home-ice victory.
The win moves to Voodoos to 18-7-0-2 on the year while in defeat, the T-Birds dip to 19-10-1-1 overall.
