COCHRANE, Ont. – The Cochrane Crunch rallied from a pair of two-goal deficits to earn a 4-3 come from behind victory over the Timmins Rock in Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League play Saturday at Tim Horton Events Centre.
The visiting Rock gained the early lead in the match-up by scoring twice before the first period was seven minutes old on efforts from Josh Dickson and Darcy Haupt.
Picking up a man advantage a couple after the second Timmins marker, Cochrane countered with Zach Hayes picking up his fifth on the power play and 12th overall.
Moving on to the middle stanza, the Rock regained their multi-marker cushion 1:45 in on Riley Robitaille’s ninth of the campaign.
Working their way back, the Crunch pulled to within one again as defenceman Ryan Grant notched his first NOJHL goal at 5:26.
They then drew level before the second period was complete thanks to affiliate Brett Whitehead’s first tally since joining the Cochrane line-up last month.
Building on their momentum, the Crunch took the lead at 7:34 of the third as Baldino Aiello connected on the power play to make it 4-3 for the home side, in what proved to be the game-winner.
From there they tightened up defensively to close things down and preserve the decision.
Cochrane goaltender Zach Wickson finished with 40 saves, including 16 alone in the third, to record the win while the Rock’s Jean-Marc Brisson faced 39 attempts in defeat.
