North Stars draw first blood

The Soo North Stars remain as dominate as they were during the regular season.

Continuing their stellar play, the North Stars took the opening game of the best-of-five Great North Midget League championship series with a 5-1 win over the New Liskeard Cubs on Friday night at the John Rhodes Community Centre.

Game two is scheduled for Saturday at 7 p.m. at the Rhodes.

The North Stars, now 48-5-2-2 overall, remain unbeaten in seven playoff games and have allowed only nine goals against in those seven contests.

Going back to the regular season, the North Stars have also scored the first goal in 16 consecutive games.

On Friday, the North Stars cornered the Cubs with two quick goals late in the second period to seal the win.

The North Stars stymied New Liskeard with an aggressive forecheck and could have put the game away early but the Soo rang two shots off the post in the opening period.

Michael D'Agostini opened the scoring 39 seconds into the second period before North Stars took full control of the contest when Matt Caria converted a turnover in front of the New Liskeard net with 2:16 remaining in the second period. D'Agostini scored his second 41 seconds later to put the North Stars ahead 3-0.

"Those two goals broke the game wide open," said North Stars head coach Mike Hall. "We had some opportunities in the first and rang a couple of the post and didn't capitalize but we showed good patience in the second.

"We have only give up nine goals in seven games and that's the key thing. We have to stay committed to the defensive zone."

"I think those two goals killed any momentum they had," said D'Agostini. "We didn't play our best but we did what we had to do and are happy with the win. We need to come out hard (on Saturday) because going down 2-0 won't leave them in good shape."

New Liskeard's Joel Imbeau foiled Michael Maulucci's shutout bid midway through the third period after converted a beautiful three-way passing play.

Three minutes later, Zack Torquato and Tyler Gendron scored 1:14 apart to cap the scoring.

Adam Kauppi recorded two assists while D'Agostini and Caria setup a goal each.

"This was a huge win because you have to win the first game at home," said North Stars defenseman Ben Davey. "You want to protect home ice and win your games at home. We just need to work hard and use our skill."

The North Stars played the game without the services Michael Sharp, who was sitting out a one-game suspension for slashing incident in game three of the semi-final series in Kirkland Lake. The North Stars are also suffering from various illnesses circulating the dressing room.

"I thought we played very well in the first period and even out chanced them in that period but didn't come away with what we wanted to," said New Liskeard head coach Darrell Christo. "We have some nagging injuries to some of our top players and it is hurting us right now.

"The (Soo) is a nice club and you can't let them roam around in your own end. If you give them room to move they will burn you. If we can play 60 minutes (tomorrow) the way we played the first 20 tonight, we'll be fine."

The series will shift to New Liskeard for game three next Friday and game four, if necessary, next Saturday. Game five, if necessary, is scheduled for Tuesday, March 23 in the Soo.

The eventual GNML champions will advance to the National Midget Hockey Championship Central Regional Playdowns, formerly known as the Air Canada Cup, beginning March 28 in Belleville.

PHOTO: North Stars goaltender Michael Maulucci freezes the puck while defenseman Jake McClelland (#17) fends off a New Liskeard attacker.