Eagles Come Up Short in Hearst After Back-and-Forth Battle with Lumberjacks

Posted On: December 12, 2025
Posted By: Saultsports
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The eighth-place Soo Eagles (10-17-0-1) hit the road on Friday, December 12th, travelling north to Hearst, Ontario to face the third-place Hearst Lumberjacks (18-6-0-2) at the Claude Larose Recreation Centre in NOJHL action.

Hearst opened the scoring at 7:06 of the first period when Mavrik Chan-Miguel netted his seventh of the season, assisted by Cole Shepherdson. Just ten seconds later, the Eagles answered back as South Dakota forward Jacob Peterson scored his first goal in his first game wearing an Eagles jersey, with Anden Marceau picking up the assist. The Lumberjacks regained the lead at 9:19 on Mathieu Comeau’s 21st of the season, assisted by Ty McKay and Chase Thompson. Soo responded again midway through the frame as Nolan Nemecek tied the game at 10:33, converting a feed from Peterson. The Eagles grabbed their first lead at 14:25 when Nemecek struck again, his 13th of the season and second of the game, with assists going to Anden Marceau and Trent Hoppe to give Soo a 3–2 advantage after one.

The Eagles continued to push early in the second period as Anden Marceau made it 4–2 just 1:32 in, scoring his 21st of the season and third point of the night, assisted by Peterson. Hearst clawed back on the power play at 4:47 with Hugo Allard’s fifth of the season, set up by Cole Miller and Chan-Miguel to tie the game 4-4. The Lumberjacks took the lead later in the period, again on the man advantage, as Chase Thompson buried his 16th at 10:42 with assists from William Pâquet and Comeau, sending the game into the third period 5–4 for Hearst.

In the final frame, Hearst found the difference-maker at 8:23 when Cole Miller scored his third of the season, assisted by William Pâquet, sealing a 6–4 Lumberjacks victory.

In goal, Jace Knoerle turned aside 35 of 41 shots for the Eagles, while Hearst split the goaltending duties between Owen Bonthuis and William Stonehouse, who combined to stop 24 of 28 shots.

The Soo Eagles will look to rebound as they continue their road trip on Saturday, December 13th, heading to Iroquois Falls for a 7:30 p.m. puck drop against the Storm.