NORTHERN ONTARIO JUNIOR HOCKEY LEAGUE
NOJHL NETWORK MEDIA UPDATE
Release Date: Friday, Dec. 18, 2015
Caruso shines as Thunderbirds thump Eskis
SAULT STE. MARIE, Ont. – Matthew Caruso tallied three times and helped set-up another while Mario Culina handled all 16 shots he faced to help lead the Soo Thunderbirds to an 8-0 triumph over the Iroquois Falls Eskis Friday in a Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League match-up at Essar Centre.
Caruso collected the game-winner midway through the first period while teammate Matthew Mitchell added to the T-Birds lead at the 13-minute mark.
Khadyn Butterfly’s initial marker for Sault Ste. Marie made it 3-0 just over six minutes into the middle stanza.
Sault Ste. Marie kept coming tacking on a pair of power play goals before the second was complete as Caruso and Jaren Bellini found the back of the net and finished off the night early of recently acquired Iroquois Falls’ goaltender Matthew Camilleri, who was making his NOJHL debut.
Joe Sheppard went the rest of the way for the Eskis, but he too faced the Thunderbirds offensive onslaught as Caruso, Bellini and Matthew Busby added third period efforts against him to round things out on the scoreboard.
Ryan Mulligan, Nathan Hebert, Caleb Boman and Zach Senecal added two assists each in the one-sided decision for the Soo.
The Thunderbirds out shot their opponents 35-16 on the night.
The win for the Thunderbirds was their five in a row as they improved to 14-0 on Essar Centre ice this season and 28-3-0-0 overall.
