North Stars drop twin Sault final at Steel City (Photos added)

With the gas tank on empty, the Soo North Stars left the 24th Annual Steel City International Hockey Tournament with the silver medal.

Capitalizing on a pair of mistakes by the tiring North Stars, the Michigan Soo Indians blanked the locals 2-0 in the Midget AAA Major championship game at the John Rhodes Community Centre on Sunday afternoon.

It was the second year in a row that the North Stars suffered heartbreak in the championship game of the Steel City. Last year, Marquette scored a goal in dying seconds to beat the locals 3-2.

The Soo Indians provided themselves with all the offense they would need with a pair of goals in a 31 second span late in the second period.

Brian Cooper's shot along the ice beat North Stars goaltender Travis O'Brien to the far side to open the scoring before Jesse Gionette converted a turnover into a goal seconds later.

Goaltending highlighted the contest as the Indians' Miles Williams made several big stops to record the shutout while O'Brien also had solid outing.

Williams made several big stops in the third period as the North Stars continued to press for some offense until the final buzzer.

"They can pick players from all over the U.S. but I wouldn't trade anyone of our players for one of theirs," said North Stars head coach Mike Hall. "We showed so much guts this weekend. To play six games with basically seven forwards and five defense, our kids showed a lot of heart. I think the tank is on empty with no fumes. Even at that, we still scrambled to score at the end.

The North Stars saw their bench for the championship game shrink once again as Derrek Coccimiglio, who returned for two games, was once again forced to the sidelines with the flu. Matt Conway, suffering from strep throat, played but was used sparingly while Jason Bird missed the weekend with a concussion.

"We basically had to double shift kids for six games in three days and it eventually caught up to us," said Hall. "We made a couple of mental mistakes from being tired and they capitalized on them. We had our chances and missed but that's the game of hockey.

"The good part about it is that we played six quality teams and that's what you come to a tournament to do. We didn't blow anybody out and we had a good division and that's what we need right now. We played some good teams the past two tournaments."

The victory should provide a spark to the Indians, who have struggled in league play and have gone through a coaching change.

New Indians head coach Joe Behling missed the championship game with the flu. A month ago, Behling took over the bench duties from Sault Ontario's Don Gagnon, a veteran minor hockey coach.

"We've been coming along and working hard past four or five weeks," said Indians assistant coach Jerry Harwood, who filled in behind the bench. "We been working on the basics and I think our work ethic made the difference today. We finished our checks and good things happen when you shoot the puck.

"(Williams) was terrific out there. There were several times when they had tons of pressure on us and he came up with that glove and pulled the puck in so we could settle ourselves down and get back to doing what we wanted to."

Thus far in the Midwest Elite League, the Indians have yet to record a victory in a high calibre league.

"My glove was working for us today," said Williams, who has skated with a few North Stars in the past. "We've never played these guys before but it still felt good to beat them. We knew they would be tough and I faced a lot of shots."

The North Stars return to Great North Midget League play next weekend with a pair of road games against Valley East and Rayside Balfour.