Photo Credit: Freeze Frame Photos
On Wednesday, March 18th, the fourth-place Soo Greyhounds (38-21-1-5) traveled south down I-75 to face the eighth-place Saginaw Spirit (25-33-3-4) in Western Conference OHL action. The Greyhounds entered the matchup looking to bounce back after a 3-0 loss to the Brantford Bulldogs on March 15th, while the Spirit came in with momentum following a 7-3 win over the Sarnia Sting. Their previous meeting on February 4th saw the Greyhounds dominate with a 6-0 shutout in Saginaw, but this contest proved to be far more competitive.
The Greyhounds opened the scoring late in the first period when Jordan Charron netted his 25th goal of the season at 17:39, with assists from Carson Andrew and Christopher Brown, giving Soo a 1-0 lead. However, the Spirit responded quickly, as Carson Harmer tied the game at 18:33 with his 18th of the season, assisted by Brody Pepoy and Graydon Jones, sending the teams into the intermission even at 1-1.
Saginaw took their first lead of the game in the second period on the powerplay. At 10:46, Jacob Cloutier scored his 20th goal of the season, with assists from Egor Barabanov and Nikita Klepov, making it 2-1 Spirit heading into the third.
The final frame featured a flurry of offense. Just 46 seconds in, Jeremy Martin tied the game 2-2 on the powerplay with his 27th of the season, assisted by Marco Mignosa and Chase Reid. The Spirit regained the lead at 11:23 when Levi Harper scored his 12th goal, with assists from Nikita Klepov and James Guo to make it 3-2. The Greyhounds answered once again at 14:34, as Jeremy Martin struck for his second of the game and 28th of the season, assisted by Noah Laus and Quinn McKenzie, tying the game 3-3.
The decisive moment came at 16:00 when Jacob Cloutier scored his second goal of the night and 21st of the season, this time unassisted, to give Saginaw a 4-3 lead they would not relinquish.
In goal, Carter George made 10 saves on 14 shots in the loss for the Greyhounds, while Saginaw’s Stephan Shurygin turned aside 22 of 25 shots to secure the win on home ice.
The Greyhounds will look for redemption as they return to Sault Ste. Marie for a rematch against the Spirit on Friday, March 20th, with puck drop set for 7:07 p.m at the Memorial Gardens.
