Photos: Northern Lights Photography
HEARST, ON – The Hearst Lumberjacks scored three times in the second period and held off a Storm of pressure in the third period as the Lumberjacks doubled the Iroquois Falls Storm 4-2 at the Claude Larose Recreation Centre Sunday afternoon.
After a scoreless first, the Lumberjacks got going early in the second as Brandon Babyak rushed the puck out of the zone down the right wing and near the top of the circle his quick release beat Brodie Haylock for a 1-0 Lumberjacks lead 32 seconds into the middle frame.
Just over five minutes later Liam Boswell hit the trailer Madoc Newton on a 2 on 1, with a nifty pass as Newton chipped it by a diving Haylock that made it 2-0 for the home side.
The Lumberjacks aggressive forecheck came in handy late in the second as Aiden Kalin finished off a nifty give-and-go with Tyler Patterson which made it 3-0 Lumberjacks after two periods.
The Storm finally scored after creating a turnover at the Hearst blueline as Max Jugnauth stole the puck, walked in from the right wing, and his shot popped out to Landon Trethewey who slipped it by Russ DeCoste to spoil the shutout bid.
With Haylock on the bench, the Storm pulled within one as Ben Sherwin’s point shot eluded DeCoste and made it 3-2 at 18:34.
In the dying seconds, Alex McDonald takes advantage of a bad Storm giveaway and his long shot from inside the Hearst blueline found the mesh with 18 seconds left in regulation.
With the win, the Lumberjacks pull within one point of second place behind the Powassan Voodoos in the NOJHL East with a record of 24-13-3-2 for 53 points while the Storm, fourth in the NOJHL East, drop to 12-31-0-2 for 26 points.
