By Matt Stefano
Wait!
Didn’t the season just begin?
It did one month ago.
But on Sunday afternoon, the Soo Thunderbirds played their final game of the year 2020 as they were in Espanola for another afternoon matchup against the Espanola Express.
The Thunderbirds were also coming off a 4-3 loss to the Express back on Saturday afternoon in Espanola.
The Soo skated off the ice in a good mood on Sunday afternooon to conclude the year 2020 as they defeated the Express by a score of 4-1 at the Espanola Regional Recreation Complex in Espanola.
Express assistant captain Cameron Walker opened the scoring for the second straight game just 1:08 into the first period, scoring his team-leading seventh goal of the season on the power play from Brad Brunet and Devon Savignac, putting his club up 1-0 after twenty minutes of play.
Despite being down 1-0 after twenty minutes of play, the Thunderbirds dominated on the shot clock in the first period, outshooting the Express 21-9.
After trailing the Express 1-0 after the first period, the Thunderbirds would then get a pair of goals 33 seconds apart from their captain Avery Rebek.
Rebek scored his third goal of the season on the power play at the 14:11 mark of the second period from Warner Young and Jacob Doucette, tying the game up at one.
The Thunderbirds captain would then notch his second goal of the afternoon and fourth tally of the season from Caleb Wood at 14:44, putting the Soo up 2-1 after forty minutes of play.
Just 7:56 into the final frame, it would be Thunderbirds rookie forward Ty Zachary getting his second goal of the season from Connor Toms, giving the Soo a two-goal lead.
Then, with just 40 ticks to go in regulation time, it would be Thunderbirds rookie forward Tyson Doucette scoring his third goal of the season into an empty net, making the score 4-1 for the Soo.
Doucette, who scored his third goal of the season, also extended his goal-streak to two games.
Express goaltender and London Knights 2018 13th round pick Owen Willis gave up 3 goals on 53 shots in the loss while Thunderbirds netminder Alex Bugeja made 37 saves for the victory.
With the win, the Thunderbirds have now improved their record to 4 wins, 3 losses and 1 shootout loss, good for 9 points.
(Photo credit to Bob Davies)
