POWASSAN, Ont. – Kenny Belanger Jr.’s second goal of the game with under five minutes remaining in regulation proved to be the game-winner as the Soo Eagles went on to defeat the Powassan Voodoos 6-4 Saturday night in Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League action at the Powassan Sportsplex.
Coming out of their own zone in numbers, Sault Ste. Marie notched the night’s opening tally 1:45 in when Jack Ohlund came down the right side and fired a feed in front that Belanger lifted past Powassan starter Daniel Dirracolo.
Adding to their early lead, the Eagles notched another just after a Voodoos penalty had expired and saw Alex Freund dive and jam in a loose puck laying in the crease off a Lane Janssen point shot.
Countering a minute and a half later, Caleb Dawson put the home side on the board as he cranked a quick attempt from the slot that beat Soo goalkeeper Marino Ramirez for his fourth of the season.
The visitors answered twice in the back-half of the frame with a couple of quick tallies, 41 seconds apart, to go up 4-1.
Landon Stevens converted at 13:25 with a sharp wrister from the left circle, before teammate Lucas Caulfield took a head-man pass and ripped it by Dirracolo from the same area of the ice.
The latest marker resulted in Powassan opting to make a goaltending change with Tyson Wilcox entering the Voodoos’ net.
Dirracolo did return for the Voodoos heading to middle session.
Starting the period with a purpose, Powassan came back with a couple of early tallies to get right back in it.
Reyth Smith brought his side closer as he chipped a puck through the legs of a Eagles’ defenceman and proceeded to snap one past Ramirez.
They then saw Cameron Lemcke crank a blast from the left side at 3:50.
Moving to the third, the Voodoos tied it when a lengthy head-man feed sent Smith in alone on a breakaway where he made a number of dekes before stuffing the equalizer through the legs of the Soo goalkeeper.
Belanger got the go-ahead goal at 15:01 after initially being stopped with a rising wrist shot, then he corralled the rebound and fired one from a sharp angle that managed to get past Dirracolo.
Stevens capped off the road victory in the late going as he lofted one from his own end into a empty net to round out the scoring.
The win for the Eagles sees them move to 14-5-0-1 on the season where they sat in a tie for third place in the west division with their cross-river rivals the Soo Thunderbirds with 29 points, behind the Greater Sudbury Cubs and the Espanola Paper Kings.
In defeat, Powassan fell to 12-6-0-2, still good for a share of first place in the east with the Timmins Rock.
The Eagles were scheduled to continue their road trip today with a game at 2 p.m. in French River against the Rapids.
– with files from NOJHL Network Media
