Photo Credit: Freeze Frame Photos
At the Northern Community Centre on Thursday, February 19th, the Korah Colts opened the 2026 Sault Ste. Marie Boy’s High School Hockey League semi-final series in emphatic fashion, blanking the CASS Huskies 12–0 in game one of the best-of-three matchup. The Colts entered the series as regular season champions, while the Huskies were coming off a 5–2 postseason win over the White Pines Wolverines earlier in the week.
Korah wasted little time setting the tone in the first period. At 4:59, Koen Manchulenko opened the scoring on the power play with his first goal of the postseason, assisted by Tyler Lang and Tyler Neveau. The Colts made it 2–0 at 2:33 when Deago Campagna scored unassisted. With just 53 seconds remaining in the period, Max Battacchio added his first of the postseason, finishing a play set up by Lang, giving Korah a 3–0 lead after one.
The Colts continued to roll in the second period. Tyler Neveau extended the lead to 4–0 at 7:52, scoring his first of the postseason with assists from Hayden Joseph and Battacchio. At 4:21, Manchulenko struck again, this time shorthanded, for his second of the game and postseason, assisted by Battacchio and Jackson Burrows. Korah capped off the period in dramatic fashion with just two seconds left on the clock as Battacchio scored a shorthanded goal, his second of the game, with helpers from Manchulenko and Burrows, making it 6–0 heading into the third.
Korah showed no signs of slowing down in the final frame. Tyler Lang made it 7–0 at 9:38 with a shorthanded, unassisted goal. Bodie Belair followed at 7:46, scoring his first of the postseason off assists from Donny Hernden and Preston Miller. Belair added his second of the game at 4:12, another shorthanded marker, assisted by Lang. At 1:35, Lang notched his second goal of the game and fifth point overall, with Joseph earning the assist. Just 19 seconds later, Gavin Avery scored unassisted to make it 11–0. Battacchio completed the scoring with three seconds remaining, netting his third of the postseason to secure the hat trick, assisted by Manchulenko and Hernden.
In goal, Will Franic was flawless for the Colts, earning the shutout, while Jack Unetic handled the goaltending duties for the Huskies.
With the decisive victory, the Korah Colts take a 1–0 lead in the semi-final series. Game two is scheduled for February 22nd at the John Rhodes Centre, with a 6:30 p.m. puck drop as the Huskies look to even the series.
