By James Brohm
Sioux Lookout, ON – The Sioux Lookout Bombers honoured their 20-year-old players in a special pregame ceremony before their final home game of the regular season. Josh Greene, Nolan Palmer, Connor Burke, Cobe Delaney, Blake Burke, Dayvan Bull, Trever Sanderson and Jack Osmond were publicly thanked for their contributions to the Bombers organization in front of a crowd of 383 fans.
As was expected, the game picked up right where the teams left off the previous night. I was like watching a fourth period of the same game. The intensity was high, and the Bombers and Miners were playing with a sense of urgency, hunting for the first goal of the game. Jack Osmond for the Bombers and Ethan Neitsch for the Miners each got the start for the second night in a row. Ty Love, who had been snakebitten all season, got the first goal of the game and his first of the year at 10:29. He took a centring pass from Alex Lucas and beat Neitsch through the 5-hole. The home team took a 1-0 lead into the intermission.
The Bombers added to the lead in the middle frame. In the dying seconds of a powerplay, Trever Sanderson ripped a shot from the top of the slot. Owen Cotter was parked in front of the Miners’ net and his screen allowed Sanderson’s shot to fly right by Ethan Neitsch.
Ryker Watt got the Miners within one at 8:55 of the third period. It was a quick play off the faceoff. Noah Tenney took the puck below the goal line and put it right on Watt’s stick in the slot for a tap in goal. The Bombers responded just over a minute later to restore the two-goal lead. Owen Riffel, working hard in the corner sent the put out front, tipping off Blake Burke’s stick and right to his twin brother Connor’s for an easy tap into the yawning cage. The Miners pressed hard for the remainder of the game but weren’t able to solve Osmond again.
Owen Cotter was the game’s third star. Ethan Neitsch received second star honours and Jack Osmond was the first star picking up his 18th win of the campaign. The victory puts Sioux Lookout back into second place in the league and they have clinched home ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs. The Miners currently sit in fifth place but have a chance to slide into fourth in the last two weeks of the regular season.
Photo credit: Ari Wantoro/Sioux Lookout Bombers