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A pair of weekend games at home saw the Soo Thunderbirds pick up an overtime win on Friday night before suffering a loss on Saturday night.
Bryan Felon had the overtime winner Friday as the Thudnerbirds beat the Kirkland Lake Gold Miners 3-2 before dropping a 6-3 decision to the Iroquois Falls Storm on Saturday, both at the John Rhodes Community Centre in Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League play.
Following are full details on both games from the NOJHL:
Friday
A Bryan Fenlon goal, 76 seconds into overtime, was the difference as the Soo Thunderbirds prevailed over the Kirkland Lake Gold Miners 3-2 Friday in a hard-fought Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League contest at John Rhodes Community Centre.
Neither side would convert offensively in a fast-paced first period as the clubs went to their respective dressing rooms for the intermission still knotted at 0-0.
In the second stanza, Sault Ste. Marie opened the scoring while shorthanded as James Legler was sent in alone by teammate Aiden Atkinson and wired a shot past Kirkland Lake’s Caleb Shuker.
Countering with an equalizer at 11:44, Inde Abresch put the Gold Miners on the board as he jammed in a loose puck laying in the crease with bodies piled up beside a sprawled Lincoln Mellenthin in the Thunderbirds net.
On the power play to begin the third, the Soo retook the lead, compliments of a Jacob Smith wrister from the right side.
Answering once more, Jeremy Schoenborn drew the visitors even again when he knocked in a rebound off a point shot from Zachary Machoian at 6:55.
Staying tied the remainder of regulation, the clubs headed to extra time.
In the three-on-three OT, the Thunderbirds got the game-winner and the additional point on the night after Atkinson made a nice spin move deep in the Kirkland Lake zone, then fired a pass across to Fenlon, who hammered in a one-timer past Shuker to end it.
Saturday
Jordan Mayo had the game-winning goal, to go along with being credited with three assists, in sending the Iroquois Falls Storm past the Soo Thunderbirds 6-3 Saturday in Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League action at John Rhodes Community Centre.
Picking up the night’s initial marker, 13:26 into the proceedings, the Storm’s Jack Jarvis was there to notch his 12th goal of the season.
Up a skater to commence the middle session, Sault Ste. Marie’s Jonathan Sonedecker notched his 14th of the season to tie it, as he got a piece of a Camden Cowan shot from the left point that eluded Iroquois Falls goaltender Maverick Fletcher.
Coming right back moments later, the Storm slammed in two quick markers, less than a minute apart, off the sticks of John Adlys and Martin Brusoe, that eluded the T-Birds’ Noah Metivier.
The Adlys effort saw him whip in a pass from Mayo while Brusoe snapped one in from the right point, through traffic, after a face-off win.
Getting back to within one right after that, Jacob Smith joined Sonedecker with 14 tallies on the campaign as he found the back of the net by chipping one in from the top of the crease.
Another extra-man effort helped the Soo knot the affair at 3-3, with Callum McAuley reaching the 10-goal mark of the season, that came at 8:20 when he roofed one upstairs from the top of the left circle, early into a power play.
Continuing to trade tallies, Mayo made it 4-3 Iroquois Falls to give him points in four straight contests, when he stuffed in a loose puck off a Jarvis attempt on target.
A fifth on the night for the visitors saw Landon Trethewey find the mark 1:17 into the final stanza as he lifted in a rebound while his club was up a skater.
Emrick Paradis then supplied some insurance with four and a half minutes remaining after Jarvis controlled a draw that allowed him to convert.
That would round out the night’s scoring as the Storm skated away with the road result.