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Blackhawks hold off Voodoos comeback

Voodoos Steve Harland during third period of action against the Blackhawks. PHOTO BY CHRIS DAWSON.

Voodoos Steve Harland during third period of action against the Blackhawks.  PHOTO BY CHRIS DAWSON.

MATTAWA, ON – The Mattawa Blackhawks built up a three-goal lead in the third period and then held on to edge the Powassan Voodoos 4-3 in a Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League encounter Wednesday evening at Mike Rodden Arena.

Each side scored once in the opening 20 minutes with Nathaniel McLeod lifting the Voodoos in flight midway through the session before Marco Luciani levelled the proceedings for the home side at 16:11.

The second stanza saw Mattawa tally twice to take a 3-1 lead after two periods of play.

Luciani’s second of the night and sixth of the season gave the Blackhawks their first lead at 4:55 with that effort followed by Eric Verville finding the back of the net two minutes later.

Mattawa went up 4-1 early in the third as Andy Williams struck short handed to supply the eventual game-winner at 3:08.

Battalion prospect Kyle Moore pulled Powassan to within two at 6:15 with assists going to Steve Harland and David Sherman.

The Harland helper also allowed him to extend his impressive game point streak to 30 straight outings.

Harland then buried his 41st goal of the season with 9:41 remaining in regulation, but the Voodoos got no closer as time expired.

The two points for the Scarborough native leaves him 1 point behind NOJHL scoring leader Cody Gratton.  Harland sits at 85 points with 7 games remaining in the season while Gratton has 86 points with 7 games left as well.  

Josh Horner kicked out 44 of 47 attempts to pick-up the victory for Mattawa with Matt Young making 35 stops in defeat for Powassan.

The Voodoos, who will finish 4th in the Eastern Division will play a wildcard best-of-three series with Mattawa, likely beginning March 9th or 10th.  

The Voodoos are back in action Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. at the Powassan Sportsplex as the West Division leading Soo Thunderbirds make their first visit of the season to the Sportsplex.