By Matt Stefano
After dropping a 3-2 decision in a shootout to the Soo Eagles this past Sunday night at the John Rhodes, the Soo Thunderbirds kicked off a three-game on Friday night as they were in Hearst to take on the Lumberjacks.
This was also the first time these two clubs met since the Lumberjacks eliminated them in the 2019 NOJHL final back on April 24th.
Despite outshooting the defending NOJHL champion Lumberjacks 41-26 overall, the Thunderbirds record fell to 3-4-0-1 on Friday night as they dropped a 4-2 decision to Hearst at Claude Larose Arena.
Orrin Grangroth and Tristan Cicchello (power play) had the goals for the Thunderbirds while Avery Rebek and Nick Smith had one assist each.
Lumberjacks forward David Gobeil led the way offensively with an empty net goal and two assists Max Griffioen (power play), Jordan Mughal (shorthanded) and Dominic Dumas all had one goal each.
Olivier Cloutier-Faucher had one assist for the Lumberjacks.
Thunderbirds netminder Colin Ahern gave up 3 goals on 25 shots in the loss while Lumberjacks goaltender Liam Oxner made 39 stops for the victory.
The Soo will continue their three-game road swing on Saturday night, when they visit Cochrane to take on the Crunch.
Puck drop is 7:00 p.m. at Tim Horton Event Centre.
(Photo credit to Bob Davies)
