GALLERY: Thunderbirds finish strong in upending Express

NORTHERN ONTARIO JUNIOR HOCKEY LEAGUE

NOJHL NETWORK MEDIA UPDATE

Release Date: Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2017

Thunderbirds finish strong in upending Express

SAULT STE. MARIE, Ont. – The Soo Thunderbirds came back from an early deficit and went on to defeat the Espanola Express 5-1 Wednesday evening in Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League action at Essar Centre.

It was the visiting Express that took a 1-0 lead after one period of play as Blake Cudmore collected his fourth of the season at 17:39 of the frame.

Sault Ste. Marie evened things up early in the middle stanza however thanks to Sean Emerson’s second as 2:34.

The Thunderbirds then went in front a couple shifts later as Ryan Waterhouse beat Espanola starter Logan Sawka.

Emmerson added his second of the session 12 and a half minutes into the frame to put the home side up by a pair entering the third.

Zach Senecal’s 23rd added to the Soo cushion 24 seconds into the final session as they went up by three before teammate Nick Smith capped off the night’s scoring with 5:24 remaining as he supplied his 10th for the T-Birds.

Austin Kozluk supplied two assists for the Soo to extend a consecutive game point streak to six in the process.

Dougie Newhouse made 25 stops to pick up the win for the Thunderbirds while Sawka faced 47 shots in defeat for Espanola.

Photos by James Egan’s Sports Photography