Eagles put press on T-Birds
Utilizing a basketball-style press — in this case an effective 1-1-3 fore check — Soo Eagles stole another road match to take a 2-0 lead on the favoured Soo Thunderbirds in their second-round Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League playoff series.
Before an overflow, Saturday-night crowd at John Rhodes Community Centre, the fourth-seeded Eagles eked out a second-successive 4-3 triumph over the West Division pennant-winning Thunderbirds.
Pint-sized, long-haired, fiery forward Jake Cimarusti snapped a 3-3 tie with less than seven minutes remaining in the third period to propel the Eagles to the victory.
Jake Saxton, Jake Palmerio and Brad Hofelich also scored and Chris Murphy had three assists for the Eagles, who got 37 saves from goalie Kade Phipps, who was jittery albeit efficient in the Michigan Soo net.
Zachary Senecal, Keegan Stevenson and Greg Smith scored for the Thunderbirds in the well-played, evenly-matched contest that could have gone either way.
Eagles associate coach and general manager Bruno Bragagnolo, while happy with the win, is not getting carried away.
“We are up two games to none and we are working hard and playing well but this is a best-of-seven series,” Bragagnolo told HockeyNewsNorth.com. “The Thunderbirds are a really-good, well-coached team and we have not heard the last from them, I can tell you that.”
The series now shifts to Pullar Stadium in the Michigan Soo for Games 3 and 4 on Wednesday and Friday.
PHOTO: Game 2 action between the Eagles and Thunderbirds. (Photo by Jim Egan.)
If only the Soo Thunderbirds didn’t win the NOJHL this year…
Old addage dont change horses mid stream. Winning was at the essar.