Skyhawks blast Thunderbirds

Dustin Fummerton whips a pass across to teammate Solomon McCann for his first goal of the night. Photo by Michelle Baril.

It’s a rarity when a 7-1 game is not considered a blow out, but Sunday night’s contest between the North Bay Skyhawks and the Soo Thunderbirds was a nail bitter until the midway point in the third when the game opened up.

“We stuck with the program and got the puck deep,” Skyhawks Head Coach Ian Swalucynski said.

“We we’re up 3-1 and their guys were trying to fight for a spark,” Swalucynski said. “We found a weakness in the defensive zone.”

The Skyhawks came out flat in the first and Swalucynski blamed it on nerves going into such an important game but was proud when his team was able to get, "the worst period out of their system," and come out with a win.

“Everybody was nervous. We had Valenti on fanning on shots and one time Loachy didn’t even know the puck was on his stick,” Swalucynski explained.

The T-Birds were the first on the board; Kurt Travaglini fired a cross-crease feed to Zack Larue who buried a snapshot under the game’s second star, Jeff Michael.

North Bay answered back with a perfectly executed power play goal. Dustin Fummerton started the around the horn passing with a tape pass to Kyle Radigan, then Ryan Loach, and finally to Soloman McCann before sending back to Fummerton in the slot to tie the game.

McCann added to his point total scoring another hat trick in a Skyhawks uniform. His trick was completed with a strong effort by line-mate Fummerton who played a game of keep-away with a Soo defender before losing control of the puck and with a lucky bounce ended up on McCann’s stick who buried it for his third of the night.

Joel Senecal, Justin Villeneuve, and Brad Hummel added to the scoreboard helping the ‘Hawks overcome their divisional rivals.

With this victory North Bay clinches first in the NOJHL but Swalucynski said they won’t be taking it easy.

“We put ourselves in this situation and everyone’s looking us. There’s only one way to go now and that’s straight down,” Swalucynski explained.

“We’re a team baby.”