Photos: Jeremy Seguin
FRENCH RIVER – Pierson Sobush, the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League’s leading goal scorer, tacked on three more to his totals Saturday, as the Greater Sudbury Cubs went on to blast the French River Rapids 9-1 at Noelville Arena.
Greater Sudbury got the game’s initial tally on a delayed penalty as rookie defenceman Kyloe Ellis calming skated through a couple of defenders into the French River zone then sent a wrist shot past a partially screened Brady Dyer in the Rapids’ net.
With a man advantage to commence the second stanza, the Cubs capitalized thanks to Sobush ripping one upstairs over the blocker of Dyer with a perfect attempt from the top of the right circle.
Building on that, the guests went up by three when Samuel Assinewai spun to the left of net and put one high into the right corner at 5:51.
The Cubs kept coming and went up by four midway through the night with a falling Graeme Siren was there to stuff in a loose puck, after a number of Greater Sudbury opportunities.
French River’s Jack Ginocchi put his club on the board after that as he kept a play in the zone at the blueline and moved in on the left side where he fired a shot by Cubs’ netminder Noah Beaulne at 12:23.
Up a skater prior to the expiration of the second stanza, Sobush took a spinning back pass from Nolan Newton from in close and quickly slammed in his second of the session.
Third period play saw Greater Sudbury put the game away in the early moments when Assinewai added his second of the evening as he clicked on the power play at 1:39.
There he fired one in front that clipped off the stick of a Rapids’ player and changed direction, in eluding Dyer.
Adding to the onslaught, Nicholas Toffoli batted in his eighth of the campaign to put result no longer in doubt.
It was more Sobush after that as his third of the night was provided on a breakaway where he made no mistake for his NOJHL-best 34th goal, while Toffoli tacked on another to cap off the romp with a nifty little backhand.
The triumph sees the Cubs move to 36-7-2-0 and the Rapids dropped to 6-35-1-1 with the one-sided loss.