NOJHL NETWORK MEDIA UPDATE
Release Date: Wednesday, Feb. 24, 2016
Crunch strikes twice late to rally past Rock
TIMMINS, Ont. – The Cochrane Crunch scored twice in the game’s final six minutes, including the game-winner by Hunter Atchison with 2:23 remaining in regulation, to pull out a 5-4 decision over the Timmins Rock in a Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League encounter Wednesday at McIntyre Arena.
Each side would tally twice in the opening frame with Jeremy McNeil giving Cochrane the lead at 5:39 before Timmins countered with markers courtesy of Andrew Green and Tristan Salesse and Jon Marzec added another, via the power play, for the Crunch at 17:04.
Alexandre Brisson gave the Rock the lead for a second time just past the 16-minute mark of the middle session only to see Brenden Van Sweden notch the equalizer for Cochrane before the frame was complete.
Timmins went back on top again 2:37 into the third as he picked up his 17th of the season with assists going to Joe Olson and Brennan McGuire.
That set the stage for the visitors’ late-game heroics with Seamus Maguire tying it with his 25th tally of the campaign at 14:16 while Atchison buried his league-leading 47th goal overall a few shifts later to win it.
Jeran Knorr earned assists on the final two markers for the Crunch while Olson had a couple of helpers for the Rock.
Brett Young made 33 saves to earn the win for Cochrane to help them move to within two points of the Powassan Voodoos in the race for top spot in the NOJHL East. The Crunch also holds one game in hand on the Voodoos.
Timmins meanwhile remains fourth in the NOJHL East and is assured of meeting the Iroquois Falls Eskis in the first round of the upcoming league playoffs.
Rock netminder Devon Debastos faced 47 shots in defeat.
