Photos: Northern Lights Photography
HEARST, Ont. – The Hearst Lumberjacks skated to the fifth consecutive Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League victory Sunday in defeating the Cochrane Crunch 4-2 at Claude Larose Recreation Centre.
The Lumberjacks connected three and a half minutes into the match-up as Tyler Patterson knocked one in off a goal-mouth scramble with help from teammates Andrew Morton and Mathieu Comeau.
Countering with the equalizer 12:53 into the second stanza, the Crunch generated a number of opportunities off a face off and eventually saw Morgan Porter roof a shot over the blocker of Hearst netminder Ethan Dinsdale from close range.
Regaining the lead a few shifts later, Lumberjacks’ captain Brayden Palfi made a spirited dash up ice from his own blueline and darted in on Cochrane goaltender Marcus Ouellet and put the quick attempt under him to put the hosts up 2-1 after two.
Adding to their edge in the front half of the third, the home side broke out in transition and saw Comeau send a sharp cross-ice pass over to Morton who quickly wired an attempt into the top left-hand corner.
A late man advantage saw Hearst put the game away as Emile Pichette snagged a loose puck and took it wide right before sliding it in at 17:55 for some insurance.
The Crunch did get that back moments later thanks to Christian Golic as he found himself free on the left wing where he raised a backhand high past Dinsdale to cap off the scoring in the contest.
“Highlight of the Night” – NOJHL YouTube Channel
