SAULT STE. MARIE – The Cochrane Crunch rallied from an early two-goal deficit to pull out a 5-2 victory over the Soo Thunderbirds Thursday evening in a Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League encounter at the John Rhodes Community Centre.
Sault Ste. Marie notched the first two markers of the night, 17 seconds apart, in the opening period on tallies by Brett Jeffries and Anthony Miller.
Cochrane got on the board in the final minute of the frame as Aviv Milner beat Thunderbirds starter Mario Culina at 19:09.
The Crunch evened things up with the lone goal of the middle stanza, which came off the stick of Jason Berube at 14:34.
Milner’s second of the contest, early in the third, proved to be the game-winner as the visitors took their first lead in the game.
Daniel Stagg added some insurance for Cochrane with 4:07 to go while Henry Berger iced it with an empty net effort with 69 seconds to go.
Brett Young made 23 stops to record the win for the Crunch while Culina faced 32 shots in defeat for the T-Birds.
NOJHL action continues Friday, on two fronts, as Cochrane travels to Elliot Lake to tangle with the Wildcats and Abitibi Eskimos take on the Mattawa Blackhawks in a neutral site affair at the Archie Dillon Sportsplex in Timmins.
Both match-ups get underway at 7:30 p.m
