By Matt Stefano
After defeating the Soo Eagles 4-1 at Pullar Stadium on Friday night in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, the Soo Thunderbirds were back on John Rhodes ice on Saturday night for the second game of a home and home series against their cross border rivals.
The teams skated scoreless through forty minutes of play, but it would be the Soo Eagles scoring three times in the third period to go on to a 3-0 win over the Soo Thunderbirds.
“We were right there all game,” said Thunderbirds captain Noah Solinger. “We just didn’t capitalize on chances we had in the second period. The third period we ran into a bit of penalty trouble and they capitalized.”
On Saturday night, the Thunderbirds also played without defenceman Robert Calisiti and forward Tanner Mayne, who were both serving suspensions.
“Missing those guys hurts us and it’s hard to play the same game without them,” concluded Solinger. “We have to come ready to play on Sunday afternoon and hopefully get a win.”
This was only the second time the Thunderbirds were shutout during the 2017-2018 season, dating back to their season opener on September 8th, 2017, when they lost 2-0 to the Hearst Lumberjacks at Claude Larose Arena.
Hayden Clark had a power play goal for the Eagles while Gianni Vitali and Austin Rowe had a goal and an assist each.
Jake Saxton had a pair of assists for the Eagles while Nick Techel and Christian Bardarson had an assist each.
Eagles goaltender Carter McPhail made 35 stops for the shutout while Eric Schuch gave up 3 goals on 38 shots in the Thunderbirds loss.
The Thunderbirds will now get set to take on the Espanola Express on Sunday afternoon at 3:00 p.m. at the John Rhodes Community Centre.
(Photo credit to James Egan’s Sports Photography)
