FRENCH RIVER – The Cochrane Crunch let a three-goal lead get away before eventually rebounding with a 4-3 victory over the French River Rapids Saturday in Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League play at Noelville Arena.
The visiting Crunch skated out to an early lead that saw Nicholas Grandy open the scoring at nearly four and a half minutes in.
Cochrane then added another at 7:06 with Matthew Minichiello reaching the 25-goal plateau as they guests carried a 2-0 cushion into the intermission.
In the second period, Maxwell Tucker extended the Crunch lead at 5:15, but Jack Tos got the Rapids on the board midway through the match-up to bring the hosts back to within a pair.
French River then drew closer in the final moments of the stanza that saw Levi Siau connect at 19:54 to make it a one-goal game entering the third.
Continuing to press, the Rapids tied it early in the final session as Alex Paul picked up the equalizer.
However, Cochrane regrouped and got the game-winner with just under five minutes to play as Jordan Fielding got the difference maker as the guests held on to pull out the narrow road decision.
Tomi Gagnon picked up the win in net for the Crunch while French River’s Sebastian Woods had the defeat on a night that saw the shots on goal finish up 59-29 in the Rapids’ favour.
Game Photos courtesy of Dal Photography
