North Stars advance to Steel City semi-finals

The Soo North Stars took one in the loss column but three consecutive shutouts to start the tournament was enough to get them into the semi-final round at the 25th Annual Steel City International Hockey Tournament in Sault Ste. Marie.

On Saturday afternoon at the John Rhodes Community Centre, the North Stars fell 2-1 to the Capital Center Pride from Lansing, Michigan in their final round robin game of the tournament.

The North Stars qualified for the Midget AAA Major division playoffs by gaining the advantage in the first tie breaker of goal differential and will now face Toronto Markham in one semi-final at 10:30 a.m. on Sunday at the Rhodes.

In the division's other semi-final, the Vaughn Kings meet the Michigan Soo Indians. The winners will meet in the final at 3:30 p.m. at the Rhodes.

After a scorless first period, Capital Centre, who needed a large victory to advance to the playoffs and eliminate the North Stars, opened the scoring in the second period as Derek Thocker beat North Stars goaltender Ryan Dube.

Darren Mansfield would add another less than three minutes later for a 2-0 lead.

Before the period was out, the North Stars, who would shut the door defensively in the third period, would answer with their only goal of the game from Dean Howard.

"We did what we had to do," said North Stars head coach Mike Hall. "We had to keep the score close and keep the goals against down. We only gave up two goals in four games.

"I thought our five-on-three power play hurt us. We had the opportunity but didn't move the puck as well as we have been. Up until this game, the power play got us through it but we'll take the good with the bad.

"We put ourselves in this position by going 3-0 so this game didn't mean too much to us. You should never be happy when you lose but we did what we had to do to go on and the other team is headed home."

*** GREYHOUNDS ADVANCE:

The Soo Bantam Greyhounds gained entry into the Bantam AAA Minor semi-finals after concluding the round robin with a 10-0 win over the Motor City Chiefs on Saturday afternoon at the Rankin Arena.

On Sunday, the Hounds face the Northern Ice Cats at 8 a.m. at the Rhodes.

Against Motor City, Greg Sartoretto led the Greyhounds with three goals while Brent Findlay chipped in with a pair. singles went to David Quesnele, Brent Warmington, Tyler Pearse, Lucas Watson and Jarrett Krancevich.

In the other division semi-final, the Pittsburgh Bantam Penguins meet Traverse City Pepsi at 8 a.m. at the Rankin. The winners meet in the championship game at 1 p.m. at the Rhodes.