Thunderbirds cap off homestand

The Soo Thunderbirds will go on their first road trip of the 2012-13 Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League undefeated.

On Sunday night the Thunderbirds beat the expansion Elliot Lake Bobcats 8-1 at the Essar Centre to wrap up a three-game season-opening homestand with a pair of wins and a tie.

The Thunderbirds opened up a 4-0 lead through one period and sealed the victory with a pair of power play goals in the final period to seal the win.

“When our offense was rolling, it was really good,” said Thunderbirds coach Warren LaVoy. “We had some power, play goals, which was nice that we took advantage of that. Five-on-five, it was likely a closer game.”

Rookie forward Anthony Miller led the offensive attack for the Thunderbirds with three goals while Adam Ritchie had a goal and set up three others in the win. Darcy Casola added a goal and two assists for the Thunderbirds while Greg Sartoretto and Daniel Pymaki had a goal and an assist each. Brandon Warmington also scored for the Thunderbirds while goaltender Joel Horodziejczyk stopped 14 shots.

“We didn’t really play a bad game today, it was actually pretty entertaining at times,” said Bobcats coach Ryan Leonard. “I didn’t feel that it was an 8-1 game. We had some two-on-ones but couldn’t bear down.”

Leonard added that the inexperience of the Bobcats roster has led to the team falling behind early in games and having trouble battling back.

Nicholas Tassone scored the lone goal for Elliot Lake in the loss while goaltender Tanner Swift stopped 23 shots.

For the Thunderbirds, preparations now begin for the first road trip of the season. The trip begins Friday night against Kirkland Lake.

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OTHER SCORES

In the lone other Sunday game in the NOJHL, Connor Gilmartin’s third-period goal lifted the North Bay Trappers to a 3-2 win over Kirkland Lake. Graham Pickard and Brandon Janke also scored for North Bay while Steven Babin and Connor McNally scored for Kirkland Lake.

Photo courtesy James Egan Photography

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