Photo Credit Freeze Frame Photos

Coming off an impressive 7–0 road victory over the Espanola Paper Kings on Friday, December 12th, the fourth-place Soo Thunderbirds (19-9-1-1) were back in action less than 24 hours later as they travelled to Powassan on December 14th for a NOJHL matchup with the Voodoos.

The home side struck early in the opening period, opening the scoring at 4:09 when Anthony Boyes recorded his 11th goal of the season, finishing a play set up by Pavel Barclay. Just over a minute later, at 5:45, Powassan doubled its lead as Reid de Bokx found the back of the net for his third of the campaign, with assists going to Ryan Saginaw and Caleb Dawson, giving the Voodoos a 2–0 advantage after one.

Powassan extended the lead early in the second period on the powerplay. At 4:46, Dylan Rousselle capitalized with his sixth goal of the season, assisted by Marcus Krats and Heath Bradley. The Thunderbirds responded with a powerplay marker of their own at 8:24, as James Legler scored his 16th of the season, converting a setup from Aiden Atkinson and Vincent Bondy to cut the deficit to 3–1.

The Voodoos regained their three-goal cushion late in the period. At 18:39, Jackson Marnell notched his second goal of the season, finishing a play from Raphael Landry and Benjamin Coupal, sending Powassan into the intermission with a 4–1 lead.

Soo showed pushback in the third period, getting within two at 10:43 when Max DeCoff scored his fourth of the season, with Gianmarco Mastroianni and Jayden Arnold collecting assists. Despite the late pressure, the Thunderbirds were unable to generate any further offense.

In goal, Cam Boville and Ryan Hicks shared duties for the Thunderbirds, combining to stop 14 of 18 shots in the loss. Powassan netminder Cole Vreugdenhil turned aside 26 of 28 shots to secure the win for the Voodoos.

“It was one of those nights. We had a pair of early breakdowns and chased the game from the start, but on a back to back and playing short a couple players the boys battled so hard. We had some great chances and they just didn’t go in tonight. This is a good team and there is lots to look forward to in the new year when hopefully we can get healthy,” added Thunderbirds coach Jamie Henderson.

The Thunderbirds will now have an extended break, with their next game coming in the new year as they return to the road on January 6th for a 7:00 p.m contest in Blind River against the Beavers.