MATTAWA – The Cochrane Crunch got two tallies apiece from Dustin Cordeiro and Cody Gratton to help them defeat the Mattawa Blackhawks 6-4 and spoil their Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League home opener at Mike Rodden Arena.
Mattawa got off to a solid start getting the opening goal of the evening 1:15 into the contest.
Cordeiro pulled Cochrane even with his first of the night at 11:58 to tie things up heading into the third.
The Crunch then erupted for four quick strikes in the middle stanza to go up 5-1 on a pair of efforts by Gratton and singles by Cordeiro and Josh Racek, who also dished out a pair of assists.
Christian Sgroi picked up the Blackhawks second of the evening at 16:23 only to see Cochrane’s Ryan Gruszka answer back just 25 seconds later.
Battling back in the third, Mattawa got a couple of markers courtesy of Kyle Baril to make it interesting, but the Crunch held on to pick up the two points on the night.
Shots on goal favoured the Blackhawks 40-35 with Matt Young earning the victory and Joe Sheppard the loss.
NOJHL action resumes Sunday evening at 7:30 p.m. as the Soo Thunderbirds entertain the Elliot Lake Wildcats at John Rhodes Community Centre.
