T-Birds outlast Skyhawks in game 1

The North Bay Skyhawks fell behind 4-2 after 40 minutes and were unable to even the score as the locals fell 4-3 to the Soo Thunderbirds in game 1 of the NOJHL final series at the John Rhodes Community Centre in Sault Ste. Marie on Saturday night.

Kody Carnevale, Solomon McCann and Alex Valenti scored for the Skyhawks.

Skyhawks head coach Ian Swalucynski felt his team came out slow which hurt them in the end.

"We came on strong in the second half of the game and we just ran out of time," said Swalucynski.

"We just have to re-group and get ready for game 2."

Dan Vernelli, Drew Otto, Colin Barnauskas and Nick Minardi scored for the T-Birds.

The score may have been close but the T-Birds definitely appeared to control the play by outshooting the Skyhawks 54-22 on the night. However, Swalucynski estimated that about 20 of the T-Birds shots came from the perimeter.

Skyhawks goalie Jeff Michael was named the game's 3rd star as he turned aside 50 shots in the loss.

The Thunderbirds were able to use the power play to their advantage as they scored twice on 10 opportunities against a Skyhawks club that was the most penalized during the regular season.

A rink scheduling conflict forced the series to start in Sault Ste. Marie in game 1 even though the Skyhawks hold home ice advantage in the final. Swalucynski says he hopes the team can build on that when they play games 2 and 3 in the friendly confines of Memorial Gardens.

"When we played game 7 (against Abitibi) the crowd was unbelievable," he said.

"If we can get that again it helps us a lot and its intimidating to the opposition. When someone asked me what the difference in the series will be heading home I said the difference will be 2000 people screaming for the home team and that means a lot to the players and even the coaches."

Despite the OHL's Soo Greyhounds season over, the Soo Thunderbirds only were able to muster up 351 fans to watch game 1 of the NOJHL final.