McAuley hat trick sends Soo over Lumberjacks in NOJHL play

Riding the strength of a first period hat trick by Callum McAuley, the Soo Thunderbirds went on to take down the Hearst Lumberjacks 6-3 Sunday afternoon in a Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League encounter at John Rhodes Community Centre.

With the outcome, it means the Thunderbirds will finish sixth in the overall standings and will meet the No. 3 seed, the Blind River Beavers, in the opening round of the NOJHL playoffs, the league said in a release.

Converting on an early five-on-three, Hearst opened the scoring 4:41 into Sunday’s match-up when Aiden Kalin slammed in a pass from down low by Ty McKay with Sault Ste. Marie starter Noah Metivier having fallen out of his crease.

Answering right back, the Thunderbirds tied it 37 seconds later after a clearing hopped over the stick of a Lumberjacks skater that allowed McAuley dart in alone down the right side where he scored for a third-straight outing by whipping his chance through goaltender Owen Bonthuis.

The Soo then took the lead at 9:08 when Carter Carriere cranked a shot from the right side that hit off McAuley and bounced in.

Some crisp puck movement out of their own zone generated an equalizer for the visitors that led to Kalin finding the tape of DonHeaven Veilleux moving down the right wing and saw him send a sizzler past Metivier.

Back and forth they went as McAuley took a pass from James Legler and with speed, blew past a defender, and pumped in his third of the period while driving in alone on Bonthuis.

Supplying a fourth in the session, an open Nate Dugwell made a crafty move at the top of the crease then stuffed in 10th tally in NOJHL play this season.

Going up by three, seven minutes into the second period, just after a man advantage they were on had expired, the Soo’s Jacob Smith snagged a rebound off an Aiden Atkinson change and promptly buried it from the left side.

Pulling back to within two at 11:36, Hearst’s Henry Ouellet benefited from a turnover generated by Kalin, which resulted in him converting from in close.

Moving to the final frame, the Thunderbirds’ Atkinson capped off the scoring in the late going as he stuffed in a wraparound for his 11th goal of the season.