BLIND RIVER, Ont. – Caleb Serre’s goal with 4:08 remaining in the second period proved to be his Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League-leading sixth game-winning goal of the season as the Blind River Beavers went on to edge the Soo Eagles 4-3 Monday night at the Blind River Community Centre.
Each team would score twice in the opening 20 minutes with the Beavers taking the lead on two occasions on even strength efforts from Dylan McMahon and Jack Rudin only to see the Eagles counter both times with man advantage markers off the sticks on Kellen Tharaldson and Christian Bardarson.
The Bardarson goal was his 30th of the season which moved him into a tie for the overall league lead with Nick Smith of the Soo Thunderbirds.
Max Khull’s 20th put the home side on top once more just over four minutes into the middle stanza, but Sault Ste. Marie countered yet again, notching the equalizer with their third power play effort of the night at 6:32 on another by Tharaldson.
Blind River did regain the lead for a final time deep into the second as Caleb Serre supplied the eventual difference maker at 15:58.
The rest of the contest went scoreless as the Beavers tightened up defensively to secure the victory.
For Blind River’s Serre, it was also his second straight deciding tally for the club and NOJHL-best sixth in total.
With the outcome, the Beavers improved to 27-16-2-0 while Eagles slipped to 24-15-0-1 on the campaign.
Cam Burggrabe made 33 saves to record the win while Carter McPhail faced 38 shots in defeat.
