ELLIOT LAKE, Ont. – Rylan Clemons notched a natural hat trick and added two assists for a five-point night as the Soo Thunderbirds went on to top the Elliot Lake Wildcats 11-3 in Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League play Friday at Centennial Arena.
Clemons began his offensive contributions by collecting the opening two tallies of the night as Sault Ste. Marie took a 2-0 cushion into the first intermission.
He then finished off his first NOJHL hat trick 4:39 into the middle session, during a man advantage, before teammates Jordan Broome, with his initial league goal and Cooper Smyl’s 10th made it 5-0 for the Soo.
Elliot Lake came back with tallies from Jonathan Giancotti and Jordan Ritchie to cut into the deficit, only to see the Thunderbirds’ Jacob Kovacs reach the 20-goal plateau at 15:51.
Making his NOJHL debut, Tysne Stranski picked up his initial league marker on the next shift before the Soo’s Mackenzie Walkington finished off the high-scoring period at 19:41.
The Thunderbirds then put the game away in the third as Tyler Savard, Michael Chaffay, with his first, Kurtis Rogers and Colton Hayes all found the back of the net to wrap things up.
In all, eight different Soo skaters provided multi-point performances in the win.
Sam Evola finished with 26 stops to pick up the victory for the Thunderbirds while Jonathan Lemaire and Theodore Heropulas back saw time in net for the Wildcats as they faced a combined 64 shots against in defeat.
Game Photos courtesy of Northern Exposures Photography
