By Matt Stefano
After doubling up the Hearst Lumberjacks 4-2 last Saturday in the Soo and cutting the NOJHL Final series lead to three games to two, the Soo Thunderbirds were still looking to keep their Copeland Cup McNamara Trophy hopes alive on Monday night as they were in Hearst for game 6 of the NOJHL Final.
And the good news is, the cup was not seen on Monday night in Hearst!
The Soo Thunderbirds have tied the NOJHL Final series at 3-3 on Monday night as they blanked the Hearst Lumberjacks by a score of 2-0 at the Claude Larose Arena.
Monday night’s game was also a game that saw no penalties.
After a scoreless first period, it would be the Thunderbirds getting on the board first with just three seconds to go in the second, courtesy of Nolan Ford’s third goal of the playoffs from Kobe Seguin and Spencer Van Tiem, which put the Soo up by one after two periods of play.
An empty net goal by Lucas Theriault with just one second to go in the third would give the Soo some insurance as the Thunderbirds would go on to blank Hearst 2-0 at Claude Larose Arena.
Lumberjacks goaltender Nicholas Tallarico gave up one goal on twenty three shots in the loss while Thunderbirds netminder William Anderson made thirty six saves for his first career playoff shutout.
Game 7 of the NOJHL Final will be played at the John Rhodes Community Centre on Wednesday night at 7:00 p.m.