By Matt Stefano
After defeating the Soo Eagles 2-1 one week ago at the John Rhodes Community Centre, the Soo Thunderbirds were in Espanola on Saturday night for their final regular season meeting against the Express.
Saturday night’s game also marked the return of Thunderbirds rookie forward Camaryn Baber, who played four games with the Saginaw Spirit this month, where he recorded a goal and an assist.
After skating through forty minutes tied 2-2, the Thunderbirds scored three times in the third period to go on to defeat the Espanola Express 5-2 at the Espanola Regional Recreation Complex.
Alex Acosta and Mark Tassone had a pair of goals each for the Thunderbirds while Spencer Van Tiem scored once.
Braden Robbins, Nick Smith and Camaryn Baber all recorded a pair of assists each for the Thunderbirds.
Baber, who recorded two assists in his first game back with the Thunderbirds, gave him 31 assists on the season, making him the first Thunderbird rookie to record 30 assists in a regular season since Nic Sicoly did back in 2014-2015.
Thunderbirds captain Noah Solinger, Austin Heinrich, Nolan Ford and Tanner Mayne all set up a goal each.
Matthew Reynolds and Jackson Thomas had a goal each for the Express while Logan Fennema, Isaac Tkachuk and Jackson Heacock all recorded an assist each.
Brandon Gordon made 23 saves for the Thunderbirds win while Ryan Hale gave up 5 goals on 36 shots in Espanola’s loss.
The Thunderbirds will return to action at the John Rhodes Community Centre on Sunday night at 7:30 p.m. against the Elliot Lake Wildcats.
(Photo of Alex Acosta credit to Jim Egan)
