COCHRANE – The Soo Thunderbirds broke open a 2-2 tie with three unanswered goals in the final nine minutes to pull out a 5-2 victory over the Cochrane Crunch Saturday in Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League action at the Tim Horton Event Centre.
Visiting Sault Ste. Marie pressed the issue in the opening period outshooting the Crunch 20-8 in the first and were rewarded with a pair of markers in the latter stages of the stanza.
Nicolas Tassone’s 26th of the season put the Thunderbirds in flight at 15:43 and he then helped set-up Anthony Miller’s 19th with 67 seconds to go in the frame.
Cochrane solved Soo starter Brian Kment 1:26 into the second period, snapping a goalless streak of 98 and half minutes for the Thunderbirds netminder, as Dustin Cordeiro fired home his 38th goal of the campaign.
Cordeiro added another with 9:41 remaining in regulation to level the proceedings, but the T-Birds answered right back 32 seconds later as Jaren Bellini buried the eventual game-winner past Brett Young in the Crunch net.
Bellini added another at 17:57 before Matt Caruso iced it in the final minute with an empty netter.
Nicolas Sicoly and Boris Katchouk chipped in offensively for Sault Ste. Marie with two assists apiece.
Kment finished the night making 33 saves to pick up the win while Young was faced 40 shots in defeat for Cochrane.
The Thunderbirds wrap-up a three-game road trip looking for a sweep as they head to Iroquois Falls Sunday to meet the Abitibi Eskimos in a 2 p.m. matinee at Jus Jordan Arena.
One other contest is on the afternoon slate in the NOJHL tomorrow as Blind River hosts Elliot Lake at 3 p.m.
