By Matt Stefano
Ten.
That’s the number of goals the Soo Thunderbirds put up on Friday night against the Soo Eagles.
On Friday night, the Soo Thunderbirds scored ten times, including six times in the second period, as they hammered the Soo Eagles by a score of 10-2 at the John Rhodes Community Centre in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario.
The last time the Thunderbirds scored ten goals in a single game, was back on February 8, 2020, when they defeated the Elliot Lake Wildcats by a score of 12-3 at Centennial Arena in Elliot Lake.
“I was telling the guys in the dressing room after tonight’s game that this was a really fun game to watch,” said Soo Thunderbirds head coach Cole Jarrett. “Whether you’re a coach or a fan sitting in the stands, it was refreshing to watch. We had all twenty guys on the same page playing the right way for sixty minutes.”
On Friday night, T-Birds forward Wyatt Marlow led the way offensively with three goals and two assists, good for his first career hat trick and five-point game.
Marlow, who scored three times and set up two others on Friday night, has now given himself 11 goals and 9 assists in 18 games played.
“Wyatt was really good, especially playing on a line tonight with Mauro and Santa Maria,” Jarrett said. “Him Mauro and Santa Maria led the charge for sure, no question about it, and they were fun to watch. They were moving the puck, they were moving their feet and supporting each other.”
“The Soo Eagles are a good team and this was a big win for us tonight,” Marlow added. “My linemates Mauro and Santa Maria were great tonight. Our chemistry was great all night and all three of us had a great game.”
Mauro and Santa Maria, who both played on Marlow’s line on Friday night, finished the night with a goal and three assists each.
During Friday night’s game, the T-Birds also got multi-point performances from four other players, including Daniel Beaupre, Youssef Chaouachi, Samuel Lake and Dharan Cap.
Beaupre scored twice, including once on the power play while Chaouachi and Lake had a power play goal and an assist each.
T-Birds leading scorer Dharan Cap chipped in with two assists, good for his third straight multi-point game.
Affiliate player Declan Gallivan had one goal for the T-Birds while Kaden Dundas, Ethan Novello, Michael Chaffay, James Kearney and Anton Petrovskiy also all got on the scoresheet with one assist each.
Jack Paweski and Brian Fiddes had the goals for the Eagles while Chase Tallaire, Kenny Belanger, Jack Mortson and Zachary Briskey all chipped in with one assist each.
Eagles goaltender Logan Raffaele gave up 7 goals on 27 shots before being replaced in net by Reid Ramsay, who then gave up 3 goals on 24 shots the rest of the way.
T-Birds netminder and North Bay Battalion 2021 15th round pick Kolton Bourret made 14 saves for the victory.
Next action for the T-Birds will be on Sunday afternoon at 2:00 p.m., when they will take on the Blind River Beavers at the John Rhodes.
17 AGAIN AND AGAIN
During Friday night’s game, the T-Birds recorded 17 shots in the first period, 17 shots in the second period and 17 shots in the third period.
The T-Birds, who recorded 17 shots per-period on Friday night, finished the night with a total of 51 shots on net.
101 POINTS FOR SANTA
Prior to Friday night’s game, T-Birds captain Brock Santa Maria had 97 career points in 139 career games.
But thanks to his first career four-point game, Santa Maria has now given himself 101 career points.
DAINES ON THE MOVE
On December 1, the T-Birds traded away 2003-birth-year forward Mitchell Daines to the SIJHL’s Sioux Lookout Bombers in exchange for a player development fee.
In 19 games played with the T-Birds this season, Daines had 1 goal, 1 assist and 21 penalty minutes.
NOTE
Prior to Friday night’s game, the T-Birds had a pre-game ceremony, which featured the Zonta Club of Sault Ste. Marie and Area.
The Zonta Club of Sault Ste. Marie and Area is currently taking part in a global campaign, which is called “16 Days of Activism.”
This campaign is put together to help end gender-based violence.
During Friday night’s game, an orange shoe display was put out in the lobby of the John Rhodes Community Centre, which showed 58 pairs of shoes that represented the 58 females who were murdered in the province of Ontario last year just because they were women.
