Thunder Bay Jr. B/Juvenile/AAA Hockey News
Hawks surprise Wolverines in Jr. B final opener

March 18--The Northern Hawks have drawn first blood in the Thunder Bay Jr. B/Juvenile/AAA Hockey League championship series surprising the K&A Wolverines 5-1 Tuesday in the opening game of the 8-point final played at the Tournament Centre.

The game's first period was scoreless as the finalists got the feel for one another in the opening frame.

A three-goal outburst in a five-minute span in the second period got the Hawks in flight as they took control of the game.

Ryan McInerney opened the scoring three and half minutes into the middle stanza while Curtis Sandberg tallied twice on the power play in a 45-second span to put the Hawks up 3-0 after 40 minutes.

Ben Soramaki broke Cody Pelletier's shutout bid six minutes into the third period, but Rory Romano and Stefano Lento both beat Wolverines starter Kelly Heikkila to put an exclamation point on the game one victory.

The Hawks out shot K&A 43-35 in this one remaining unbeaten in the playoffs at 4-0 while the Wolverines dropped their postseason debut after earning a first round bye for sporting the best record in the league.

The Hawks now lead the 8-point final 2-0 with game two set for Thursday back at the Tournament Centre where the action is slated to get underway at 7 p.m.

-JRB/JUV/AAA-