Thunderbirds win 650th NOJHL game in franchise history with triumph over Express

ESPANOLA, Ont. – The Soo Thunderbirds picked up two goals apiece from Alex Acosta and Spencer Van Tiem to help them register their 650th Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League victory in franchise-history Saturday as they skated to a 7-1 triumph over the Espanola Express at the Regional Recreation Complex.

The result also saw the Thunderbirds reach the 30-win plateau for the 11th straight NOJHL campaign.

Sault Ste. Marie picked up the lone goal of the first frame as Acosta notched his 10th goal of 2017-18 as he finished off a Lucas Theriault feed during a power play at 4:09.

Noah Sollinger added to the visitors lead 19 seconds into the middle session as they went up by a pair.

Espanola got on the board seven minutes later thanks to Bryce Patterson who finished off the work of Isaac Tkachuk and Connor Tessier.

The Thunderbirds got that back though a couple of shifts later as Brendan Miller made it 3-1 midway through the contest.

The Soo put the game away in the third picking up a pair of markers from Spencer Van Tiem, another by Acosta and a single off the stick of Tanner Mayne to secure the road victory.

Miller, Braden Robbins and Lucas Theriault all chipped in with two assists apiece for the Thunderbirds.

Brandon Gordon made 33 saves to pick-up the win while Ryan Hale saw 44 shots fired his way in defeat for Espanola.