THUNDER BAY, Ont. – The Thunder Bay North Stars picked up a pair of tallies from Dillon Ward as part of a 6-2 triumph over the Minnesota Iron Rangers Friday in a Superior International Junior Hockey League match-up at the Fort William Gardens.
A solid start allowed the North Stars to take a 2-0 lead after one period of play on markers by Brendan Gillis at even strength at 11:10 while Troy Sherman secured his fifth of the season during a Thunder Bay power play in the latter stages of the stanza.
The home side then added another off the stick of Ward seven and a half minutes into the middle frame.
Battling back, Minnesota saw Branden Woodward connect on the power play at 13:07 while Clayton Brown made it 3-2 at 16:41.
However Thunder Bay went back up by two midway through the final frame as newcomer Ryan Mignault notched his first SIJHL goal in his league debut to help secure the win.
Ward added some insurance with an empty netter at 18:20 before Keighan Gerrie iced it late to cap off the night’s scoring.
Brandon Bodnar faced 34 shots to record the victory for the North Stars while Tyler Thompson saw 37 attempts fired his way in defeat for the Iron Rangers.
Photo credit: Leith Dunick, tbnewswatch.com