By Matt Stefano
Since arriving in Sault Ste. Marie earlier this month, Ranon Joseph has recorded at least one point all seven of his games played this season with the Soo Thunderbirds.
And on Friday night in just his eighth game played, he put up another three.
On Friday night, Soo Thunderbirds defenceman Ranon Joseph extended his point-scoring-steak to eight games with a goal and two assists as he helped lead the Thunderbirds to a 5-4 victory over the Elliot Lake Red Wings at the John Rhodes Community Centre in Sault Ste. Marie.
“Tonight’s game wasn’t necessarily the game where we played our best, but good teams find ways to win, so we pulled it together in third period and really beared down near the end of the game to come out with a big two points,” Joseph said.
Joseph, who extended his point-scoring-streak to eight games, also became the first Soo Thunderbird defenceman to have an eight-game point-scoring-streak since Matt Busby (2015-2016).
“It feels good to be doing well here, but I’m not so worried about my points right now, because I just want our team to keep getting better everyday and push the pace in practices and in games,” Joseph said. “Like I said before earlier this month, I will help the team in anyways necessary and right now I’m producing, so it’s just a little bonus. We know we have a special group and we know we can do something special this year, so why not, right?”
“Joe (Ranon Joseph) has been a real positive addition for us,” added Soo Thunderbirds head coach Cole Jarrett. “Joe has fit in seamlessly with our group and it’s nice to see him get rewarded for his hard work.”
On Friday night, the Soo Thunderbirds also got a three-point performance from forward Daniel Beaupre, as he finished the game with a goal and two assists of his own.
Beaupre, who recorded three points on Friday night, also gave himself his third three-point-game of the season.
“It felt great to get a three-point-night tonight and all the credit goes out to my teammates for setting me up on my goal tonight in the third period, and credit to my teammates for burying the puck when I gave them the chance,” Beaupre said.
With the game tied 3-3 almost eight minutes into the third period, the Thunderbirds then got a pair of goals just 7 seconds apart, which quickly turned a 3-3 tie into a 5-3 Thunderbirds lead.
At the 7:40 mark of the third period, it would be Daniel Beaupre getting his 13th goal of the season from Ranon Joseph and Ethan Novello, which put the Soo ahead by a score of 4-3.
Then, just 7 seconds later, it would be Youssef Chaouachi getting his 13th goal of the season from Dharan Cap, which gave the Soo a two-goal cushion.
The last time the Thunderbirds got goals by two players less than 10 seconds apart, was back on November 22, 2018, when Kaden McDonald and Nick Smith scored six seconds apart in a 7-3 victory over the Espanola Express.
“After those two quick goals in the third period, we ended up gaining more confidence to close out tonight’s game,” Beaupre said. “The boys were pretty frustrated being tied, so those two quick goals gave our team a little more energy.”
During Friday night’s game, the Thunderbirds also got a multi-point performance from third-year forward Ethan Novello, as he finished the game with a goal and an assist.
Novello’s goal, came at the 3:21 mark of the second period, which at that time gave the Thunderbirds a 2-1 lead.
Thunderbirds captain Brock Santa Maria also got on the scoresheet on Friday night with a power play tally while defenceman James Kearney recorded one assist.
Red Wings forward Silas Crawford had a goal and an assist on Friday night while Thomas Dimoulas set up two goals.
Adam Matar (Power play), Evan Dantas (Power play) and Zachary Vickerman had a goal each for the Red Wings while Alex Antoine, Brandon Twigg and Cameron Dial all set up a goal each.
Red Wings netminder Cameron Smith gave up 5 goals on 40 shots in the loss while Thunderbirds netminder Kolton Bourret made a season-high 42 saves for the victory.
With the win, the Thunderbirds have now improved their record to 28-10-2-1, good for 59 points as they remain in second place in the NOJHL’s West Division standings.
“We were happy to get the two points tonight, but credit to Elliot Lake, because they came here to play tonight and worked for everything they got,” Jarrett said.
The Thunderbirds will now be back in action on Saturday night at 7:00 p.m. as they will take on the No. 7 ranked team in the country, the Greater Sudbury Cubs at the John Rhodes.
“Saturday night’s game will be really good test for our group and we are looking forward to playing a top-10 team to see where we stack up,” Jarrett said.
(Photo of Soo Thunderbirds defenceman Ranon Joseph credit to Bob Davies)
