In a heated cross-border St. Mary’s River rivalry showdown, the Soo Thunderbirds traveled to Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan on Friday, January 30th to take on the Soo Eagles in NOJHL regular season action, with the hometown Eagles pulling away for a 7–4 victory.

The Thunderbirds struck first just 1:11 into the opening period when Aiden Atkinson netted his 14th goal of the season, finishing a play set up by Adam Pszeniczny and Brayden Gosselin. The Eagles responded midway through the frame as Carter Huckson tied the game at 11:16 with his sixth of the year, assisted by Colton Huckson and Anden Marceau. The Soo grabbed the lead late in the period when Ethan Hoff scored his ninth of the season at 19:14, with Coulson Bell and Logan Stawizynski earning the assists.

The second period belonged entirely to the Eagles as they poured on four unanswered goals to break the game open. Jacob Peterson made it 3–1 at 8:47, converting a feed from Nolan Nemecek and Lucas Caulfield. Less than a minute later, Logan Stawizynski added his 19th of the season at 9:34 off helpers from Coulson Bell and Liam Watson. The momentum continued as Ethan Hoff struck again at 13:45 for his 10th of the year, with Watson and Nemecek setting him up, before Gabriel Clark capped the surge at 16:19 with his second of the season, assisted by Dominic Cicco and Anden Marceau.

Facing a five-goal deficit heading into the third, the Thunderbirds mounted a determined comeback attempt. Atkinson notched his second of the game and 15th of the season at 4:22, with Landon Hill and Deven Jones-McDonald on the assists. Owen Murphy followed just under a minute later at 5:18, scoring his third of the year off a feed from Brady Real. The rally continued when Wyatt Groth made it 6–4 at 7:49, converting a setup from Gianmarco Mastroianni and Murphy to bring the Thunderbirds within two.

However, any hopes of a late comeback were sealed when Ethan Hoff completed his hat trick with an unassisted empty-net goal at 19:38, securing the 7–4 win for the Eagles.

In net, Ryan Hicks turned aside 35 of 42 shots for the Thunderbirds, while Dalton Hoornstra was solid for the Eagles, stopping 29 of 33 in the victory.

The Soo Thunderbirds will look to bounce back quickly as they return home to the John Rhodes Centre on January 31st to host the Espanola Paper Kings with puck drop set for 7:00 p.m. Meanwhile, the Soo Eagles will next hit the ice on February 6th when they welcome the Kirkland Lake Gold Miners to Pullar Stadium for a 7:30 p.m. start.