Coming off a strong 4–1 victory on Friday night against the Blind River Beavers, the Soo Thunderbirds carried their momentum into Saturday, November 8th, at the John Rhodes Community Centre, defeating the Kirkland Lake Gold Miners 7–3 in Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League action.
The Thunderbirds struck first at 11:24 of the opening period when James Legler buried a power-play goal, his 10th of the season, assisted by Deven Jones-McDonald and Gianmarco Mastroianni. The Gold Miners answered at 18:22 with Vaive Hickey’s 3rd of the season, but rookie defenceman Brady Real restored the Soo lead less than two minutes later, scoring his first career NOJHL goal at 19:42, assisted by Shea Chornley.
In the second period, the Thunderbirds took control offensively. Legler added his second of the night and 11th of the campaign at 8:57, again with helpers from Jones-McDonald and Aiden Atkinson. The Gold Miners kept it close when Hickey notched his second of the game at 14:57, assisted by Mavrick Boucher and Owen van de Ven, but the Soo quickly responded.
Atkinson struck twice before the end of the frame — first at 17:11, then again at 18:24 — pushing the Thunderbirds’ lead to 6–2. Legler, Real, and Max DeCoff all collected assists on Atkinson’s pair of goals, giving both top-liners multi-point nights.
The Gold Miners opened the third with a goal just 35 seconds in from Tysen Andersen, assisted by Ryland Harvey, but the Thunderbirds answered back quickly. Owen Murphy, who joined the team just a week prior, scored his first of the season at 2:35, assisted by Grady Holden and Jayden Arnold. Rounding out the scoring at 13:32, Wyatt Groth — returning from a three-game suspension — netted his second of the year, with Chornley and Landon Hill drawing assists.
Between the pipes, Nathan Maguire earned the win for the Thunderbirds, while Glenn McInnes and Brian Rathwell shared duties in goal for the Gold Miners.
The Thunderbirds will now hit the road to face the Timmins Rock on Friday, November 14th at the McIntyre Arena, while the Gold Miners wrap up their three-game road swing with a Sunday afternoon matchup against the Blind River Beavers.
