COCHRANE, Ont. – Newcomer Billy Paschen picked up a hat trick and added an assist while Zack Wickson turned all 33 shots, he faced to register a shutout as the Cochrane Crunch went on to topple the Hearst Lumberjacks 6-0 in a Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League preseason meeting at Tim Horton Events Centre.
Following a scoreless opening 20 minutes, the middle stanza was all Cochrane as they collected five goals in the second period to take control of the contest.
Paschen was the key cog in the Crunch offensive attack in the session as he notched all three of his markers in the frame and also added his helper.
Also scoring for the home side in the second were Stephen Minichiello and Matthew Minichiello, with the latter also setting up three goals, joining Paschen with a four-point performance.
Cochrane’s Eric Vanderhoff finished off the one-sided result midway through the third to round out the scoring.
Liam Oxner and Austin Madge split time in net for Hearst in defeat seeing 38 attempts fired their way in the loss.
The two sides will finish off a home-and-home Thursday night as the Lumberjacks host the Crunch at Claude Larose Arena.
Game time is 7 p.m.
