Coming off a 3–3 tie with the Iroquois Falls Storm on Saturday, December 14th, the ninth-place Soo Eagles (10-18-1-1) returned to action Sunday afternoon at the McIntyre Arena in Timmins to take on a red-hot Timmins Rock squad riding a ten-game winning streak.
The Rock wasted little time opening the scoring just 12 seconds into the first period, as Diego Da Silva buried his 15th of the season off a setup from Kaeden McArthur. Timmins doubled the lead at 3:15 on the powerplay when McArthur notched his 21st of the campaign, assisted by Brant Romaniuk and Ashton Beriana.
The Eagles answered back midway through the frame. Logan Stawizynski pulled Soo within one at 4:55, finishing a play set up by Lucas Caulfield and Micah Seery. The Eagles tied the game at 9:59 on the powerplay, with Anden Marceau wiring home his 22nd of the season from Micah Seery.
Timmins regained control late in the period with a pair of quick goals. McArthur struck again on the powerplay at 13:48 for his second of the night, before Ryan Power made it 4–2 just 15 seconds later, assisted by Evan Katic and Nicholas Schwertner.
Soo showed resilience in the second period, pulling even with three unanswered goals. CJ Zaharias scored at 1:06, followed by a powerplay marker from Micah Seery at 8:55. After Ashton Beriana restored Timmins’ lead at 15:02, Alex Povorozniouk responded late in the frame at 18:41 to send the teams into the second intermission tied 5–5.
The third period belonged to the Rock. Ryan Armitage broke the deadlock at 3:31, and Timmins took advantage of several powerplay opportunities down the stretch. Matteo Paradiso scored at 15:02, Diego Da Silva added his second of the game at 15:20, and Matthew Kim capped the scoring at 17:56 to seal the Rock’s comeback victory.
In goal, the Eagles tandem of Jace Knoerle and Dalton Hoornstra combined to stop 24 of 33 shots, while Timmins goaltenders Ayden Mullen and Frédéric Cousineau turned aside 29 of 34 attempts.
The Eagles will look to bounce back on Friday, December 19th, when they return home to host the Blind River Beavers. Puck drop is set for 7:30 p.m. at Pullar Stadium.
