Greater Sudbury Cubs (NOJHL) goaltender Noah Beaulne turned aside all 22 shots he faced as he helped the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League champions to a big 6-0 over Collège Français de Longueuil at the Centennial Cup in Oakville today.
Played this afternoon at the Sixteen Mile Sports Complex, it was the Cubs first win at the event in four games.
The Cubs came out swinging for this one, pressuring the Quebec AAA Junior Hockey League champions from the jump.
After scoring opportunities on both ends of the ice, Greater Sudbury took the lead when Matteo Signoretti worked the puck free along the end boards and shoveled a feed in front to Ben Lacroix who jammed in a backhand from the top of the crease.
“Buoyed by a boisterous throng of local school children on hand cheering them on, the Cubs went up by a pair at 13:20 as (Marshall) McCharles powered his way down the right wing, then drove hard to the net, and stuffed his chance through the legs of Lacroix-Goulet,” a game release states.
Moving onto the second period, Cubs forward Justin Seguin picked off a clearing attempt in the neutral zone then darted through a trio of defenders and whipped a rising attempt into the left corner to make it 3-0.
In the third, Cameron Shanks corralled a play in front, then spun at close-range and pumped one top shelf to extend the Cubs’ cushion to 4-0.
Late in the third and on a man advantage, McCharles notched his second of the game to make it 5-0. Less than a minute later, while defenceman Mason Chitaroni skated in and fired one upstairs to finalize the 6-0 score of what was a very one-sided game.
Earning player of the game nods for their respective clubs were Beaulne and Thomas Bourbonnais for Longueuil. Unfortunately for the Cubs, their run at the Centenial Cup came to end with the win as the team won't be advancing to the quarter-finals Friday.
There are two more games to play in the preliminary round at the Centennial Cup today. Quarter final play begins Friday, with the semis set for Saturday and the championship game set for Sunday.
