PHOTOS: Caleigh Fera – Sudbury Light Event Photography
SUDBURY, Ont. – The Greater Sudbury Cubs tallied twice early to give them all they required, before putting the game away late as part of a 6-1 triumph over the Iroquois Falls Storm in Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League play Thursday at Gerry McCrory Countryside Sports Complex.
Needing just over a minute to notch the night’s opening marker, Greater Sudbury’s Noah Kohan took a cross-ice pass from Mason Chitaroni and put a shot towards the target from the top of the right circle that clipped off the glove of Iroquois Falls starter Brodie Haylock and dropped into the net.
Coming right back a couple of shifts later, the Cubs tacked on another when Ben Lacroix scored from a sharp angle, which resulted in the Storm bringing in back-up Connor Hatfield in long relief.
Collecting the assist on the goal was newcomer Matteo Signoretti who picked up his initial point in his NOJHL debut.
Tightening up from there, neither team would add another the rest of the session with the home side taking their edge into the first intermission.
In the middle stanza, Hatfield, along with Noah Beaulne in the Cubs’ net did the job defensively in a scoreless frame with it remaining 2-0 for the hosts after 40 minutes.
With Hatfield keeping his club in it, they rewarded him with a goal near the five-minute mark of the third, when Andre Cho forced a turnover in the Greater Sudbury end and moved the puck over to Seth Morin on his right, who fired a short-side shot through Beaulne to put the guests on the board.
Getting that back at 8:23, during a power play, Hudson Martin teed up Lacroix for a one-timer to the left of Hatfield that he slammed in along the ice for his second of the night.
Special teams again helped Greater Sudbury add to their lead, as while shorthanded, Martin knocked down a shot attempt in his own end, then quickly darted up ice where he put a feed across to Cameron Walker, who promptly swatted it in, with less than a half-period to play.
The Cubs Brady Bouchard then extended their edge by wheeling into the slot and pumping a shot off the post and in, before Walker notched another after he was left with a tap-in off a solid play and pass off the stick of Ben Harris to round out the scoring.
With the victory, Greater Sudbury improves to a league-best 21-6-0-0 on the campaign, while in defeat, the Storm slip to 7-21-0-1 overall.
“Highlight of the Night” – NOJHL YouTube Channel
