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Voodoos Get Crunched in Home Opener

Voodoos forward Kyle Moore is stopped close in by Crunch netminder Matt Young. PHOTO BY SHANNA WRAY.

Voodoos forward Kyle Moore is stopped close in by Crunch netminder Matt Young. PHOTO BY SHANNA WRAY.

The Powassan Voodoos fell hard in front of a crowd of 560 at The Powassan Sportsplex in their regular season home opener on Friday night as The Cochrane Crunch skated away with a 5-0 victory.

The Crunch jumped out to an early lead only 6 minutes into the opening frame as Forward Dustin Cordeiro was able to spring Cochrane’s leading scorer Cody Gratton on a shorthanded breakaway to open the scoring.

The Voodoos spent the majority of the period in their own end as Powassan Goaltender Ben Auger turned aside 19 of Cochrane’s 20 first period shots.

Powassan found their legs in the second however, outshooting The Crunch 14-9. Cochrane’s veteran net minder Matt Young stood tall stopping every shot he faced including a number of good chances generated by the All-Battalion line of Kyle Moore, Steve Harland and Brendan D'Agostino.  

The Crunch managed to add to their lead after a Powassan turnover resulted in a wide open opportunity for Forward Josh Racek, who made no mistake firing it high for a 2-0 Cochrane lead. That’s how the second period looked to be ending until Voodoos’ Assistant Captain Nolan Smith took a late cross-checking penalty at 19:35.

The Crunch wasted little time converting on the powerplay as Defenceman Joseph Marvin blasted home his first goal of the season just 6 seconds into the man advantage to make it 3-0.

The Voodoos had plenty of opportunities to claw back into the game with a total of 5 third period powerplays but were unable to find the back of the net.

Crunch Defenceman Joseph Marvin added his second powerplay marker in a row, while Dustin Cordeiro finished off a 2 on 2 passing play to make it a 5-0 game for Cochrane.

Crunch Forward Jason Berube picked up an assist in the win to continue his scoring streak while Dustin Deugau added two helpers as well.

After failing to convert all 8 powerplay opportunities, The Voodoos have yet score with the man advantage all season. Powassan falls to 0-2-0-1 on the season; their only point coming on an overtime loss at the hands of the Cochrane Crunch in their franchise season opener in Cochrane.  

"Tonight was a tough one, the boys are still learning," said Voodoos Head Coach Scott Wray.  

"If we are in the same spot come December then we will have something to worry about, but for right now, it's just a learning curve. Cochrane is a good team, they have a lot of veteran leadership and the maturity within their group really showed tonight."

The Voodoos next game is on Monday, September 15th at home against the Mattawa Blackhawks.