Photo Credit: Freeze Frame Photos
Coming off an impressive 8–1 victory over their cross-border rivals, the Soo Eagles, on September 18th in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, the Soo Thunderbirds returned to action on Saturday, September 19th, welcoming the Elliot Lake Vikings to town. The matchup marked the Vikings’ first return to Sault Ste. Marie since the winter of 2025, while the Thunderbirds looked to carry the momentum from their dominant opening-weekend performances into another home-ice victory.
The Thunderbirds opened the scoring at 11:45 of the first period when Makks Demidovich found the back of the net for his second goal of the season. Demidovich’s marker was set up by Sean Gresko and Madden Glavota, giving the Thunderbirds an early 1–0 advantage. Elliot Lake answered just under three minutes later, as Aleksander Duguay scored his first goal of the season at 14:26. Alessandro Raponi and Toby Johnson picked up the assists as the Vikings pulled even at 1–1 heading into the second period.
After a tightly contested opening frame, the Thunderbirds regained the lead late in the second period. At 19:43, Nicholas Carlson scored his third goal of the season to put Soo back in front 2–1. Carlson’s goal was assisted by Owen Murphy and Drew Christian, giving the Thunderbirds the lead heading into the final intermission.
Soo came out strong in the third period and quickly added to its advantage. Just 1:07 into the final frame, Andrew Warne scored his second goal of the season to extend the Thunderbirds’ lead to 3–1. Jackson Mead and Gavin Killoran earned assists on the goal.
The Vikings continued to battle throughout the remainder of the third, but the Thunderbirds’ defence and goaltending kept Elliot Lake off the scoreboard. With the Vikings pulling their goaltender in the final minute, Jaden van de Ven sealed the victory with an empty-net goal at 19:38, his first of the season. Vincent Bondy picked up the lone assist as the Thunderbirds skated away with a 4–1 victory.
In goal, Nathan Maguire turned aside 32 of the 33 shots he faced for the Thunderbirds, while Elliot Lake netminder Jacob Kirstein made 38 saves on 41 shots in the Vikings’ crease.
The victory gives the Thunderbirds another strong performance to open the season and extends their early-season momentum following back-to-back wins over the Lumberjacks in Hearst and their home-ice victory over Elliot Lake.
The Thunderbirds will now hit the road for a three-game road trip. Their first stop will be Timmins on September 25th, followed by Iroquois Falls on September 26th, before wrapping up the trip in Kirkland Lake on September 27th.
Soo will look to continue its strong start to the season as the Thunderbirds take their winning ways on the road for three games across Northern Ontario.
