Thunderbirds extend winning streak to five

On the heels of a dramatic overtime win on Saturday night at home, the Soo Thunderbirds were on the road on Sunday and used a strong opening period to pick up their fifth consecutive win.

The Thunderbirds beat the Espanola Express 4-1 in Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League action Sunday at the Espanola Regional Recreation Complex.

Cole Delarosbil opened the scoring for the Thunderbirds just under seven minutes into the contest when he scored on a rebound after Espanola goaltender Matthew Loney stopped a shot from the left circle by Ethan Novello initially.

Mason Chitaroni made it 2-0 Thunderbirds at 15:42 when he beat Loney with a shot from the right circle high short side capping off the scoring in an opening period that saw the Thunderbirds outshoot the Express 14-4.

Russell Oldham extended the Thunderbirds lead to 3-0 at 7:48 of the second period. The veteran forward found himself below the goalline and he banked the puck in off Loney for his third goal of the season.

Espanola got on the board just over five minutes into the third period.

After Noah Zeppa stopped Benjamin Lacroix, Eric Barnard scored on the rebound to make it 3-1 Thunderbirds at 5:02.

Just 1:20 later, Youssef Chaouachi capped off the scoring for the Thunderbirds, beating Loney with a shot from the left faceoff circle.

Loney made 29 saves for the Express while Zeppa turned aside 21 shots for the Thunderbirds.

With the win, the Thunderbirds improve to 25-5-2-3 on the season. The win also gives the club a 10-point lead over the Soo (Mich.) Eagles atop the NOJHL’s West Division standings though the Eagles have four games in hand.

The Thunderbirds return to action on Feb. 25 when the team opens up a three-game weekend road trip.

The trip will see the team face the Kirkland Lake Gold Miners on Friday before facing the Powassan Voodoos on Saturday and wrapping up the trip on Sunday afternoon against the French River Rapids.

Espanola falls to 8-21-2-0 and remains fifth in the West Division, three points behind the Elliot Lake Red Wings in a battle for positioning within the division. The Red Wings also lost on Sunday afternoon, dropping a 2-0 decision in Blind River.

Some history was made in that contest as Brandy Beecroft became the first female to referee a game in NOJHL history.