POWASSAN, Ont. – The Cochrane Crunch connected for four goals in the final 10 minutes of regulation to earn a 5-2 road victory over the Powassan Voodoos Saturday in a Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League encounter at the Powassan Sportsplex.
A tight-checking first frame saw it go scoreless with the night’s starting goalkeepers, Tyler Mastermak of Powassan and Cochrane’s Taylor Unruh stopping every shot they faced.
It was the visiting Crunch that broke the ice in the middle stanza when T.J. Delaney picked up his fourth goal of the year at 5:14 to put the visitors in front.
Powassan tied things up early in the third as Voodoos’ defenceman Dayton Murray blasted in his league-leading sixth power play goal and eight overall at 1:53 of the frame.
Continuing to press, Powassan took the lead at 6:15 thanks to Harrison Israels third goal in September, but Cochrane countered with the equalizer midway through the stanza as Thomas Hernandez picked up his first NOJHL tally.
That set the stage for Kyle Podwika to notch the difference maker as he finished off the work Kyle Herbster and Alex Brisson.
Connor Lovie then added some insurance for Cochrane with a shorthanded, empty net, effort at 18:18 before teammate Austin Stauffer added another empty netter 30 seconds later to round out the night’s scoring.
Hernandez also chipped in with two assists for a three-point night.
Unruh was solid in the Crunch net making 40 saves to in earning the win.
Mastermak faced 25 attempts in defeat for the Voodoos, who suffered their first home loss since back on Feb. 13 of last season.
