Photo Credit: Freeze Frame Photos

On Friday, February 20th, the second-place Soo U18 Greyhounds (27-3-1) hit the road for their final regular-season road trip, opening with a stop in New Liskeard to face the fifth-place New Liskeard Cubs (14-16-1) in GNU18HL action at the Don Shepherdson Memorial Arena. The Greyhounds entered the matchup fresh off a 7–2 home win over the Sudbury U18 Wolves on February 15th, while the Cubs were also riding momentum after a 4–0 victory against the Kapuskasing Flyers. Heading into Friday’s contest, the Soo held a narrow 2–1 edge in the season series.

The Greyhounds set the tone early in the opening period. At 8:59, Nico Bossio opened the scoring with his 24th goal of the season, finishing a play set up by Jackson Thornton. The Soo doubled their lead at 16:17 when Thornton found the back of the net for his 12th of the year, assisted by Liam Clark. The first period ended on a high note for the visitors as Espen Escasa made it 3–0 at 18:00, scoring his 39th of the season with helpers from Cam Kontulainen and Makks Demidovich.

After a scoreless second period, the Greyhounds wasted no time adding to their lead in the third. Just 45 seconds in, Escasa struck again, netting his 40th goal of the season off assists from Bossio and Hunter Thorkilson to make it 4–0. The Soo rounded out the scoring at 10:25 when Makks Demidovich recorded his 20th of the season, finishing a play created by Anthony Spironello and Dreyon Boissoneau.

Between the pipes, Sebastien Brassard was rock-solid for the Greyhounds, turning aside every shot he faced to earn his fourth shutout of the season. Morgan Hyndman took the loss in goal for New Liskeard.

With the 5–0 shutout victory, the Soo U18 Greyhounds will continue their road swing with back-to-back games in Timmins to close out the regular season. They are set to face the Timmins Majors on February 21st and 22nd, with puck drops scheduled for 7:30 p.m. on Saturday and 9:30 a.m. on Sunday.