North Stars maintain perfect Steel City record

The Soo North Stars are about as perfect as you can be after three games in the Steel City International tournament being held locally this weekend.

Through three games, the North Stars have a perfect 3-0 record and have yet to give up a goal following their latest win, a 4-0 shutout of the Motor City Mechanics.

With just the first place team in each of the Triple-A Major Midget divisions making the semi-finals, wins and goals are the name of the game.

Should two teams finish tied in the standings, goal differential is the determining factor of who moves on, and who has an early end to their tournament. That being said, following their latest win, the North Stars have won three straight and have outscored their opponents 11-0.

After playing to a scoreless opening period, the North Stars opened the scoring midway through the second period when Brad DiCandia beat Motor City goaltender Brian Pawliki.

The North Stars opened the game up in the third period and were rewarded with three goals. Derrek Coccimiglio put the North Stars up 2-0 in the opening minutes of the period and gave the locals some insurance when he scored a power play marker with just under seven minutes remaining. A power play goal by Dan Vernelli with 25 seconds remaining sealed the win for the North Stars.

Thomas Gravelines, who already had one shutout, picked up the shutout win over Motor City.

The North Stars will wrap up their round robin schedule on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. when they face the Capital Centre Pride at the John Rhodes Community Centre. The Pride will be forced to play two games on Saturday. The Pride, who currently sit at 2-0 after the first two days of tournament action, need a pair of wins if they hope to make the semi-finals.