It was the start they were looking for, but certainly not the finish.
The Soo Thunderbirds opened their home schedule on Wednesday night against the Soo (Mich.) Eagles with a 6-5 loss to their cross-border rivals. What made the loss even tougher to take was the 5-0 lead the Thunderbirds held at the eight-minute mark of the second period.
“I’m questioning them. I’m calling them out right now,” said Thunderbirds coach Pat Carricato. “I don’t think there’s enough character in that room right now. Either they find some or I’ll go out and find some.”
A dominant opening period saw the Thunderbirds outshoot the Eagles 18-1 and build up a 4-0 lead. Nicholas Romano, Kurtis Travaglini, Colin Barnauskas and Justin Thomas scored in the period for the locals. Michael Schug increased the lead to 5-0 just over seven minutes into the second period.
“After the first period I told them ‘Don’t give them life, don’t let them back in it. This game’s far from over,’” said Carricato. “They went out there in the second period and figured they’d do what they want and play a game of shinny. They were turning away from checks, not finishing checks. They weren’t playing as a team and they quit skating.”
Kevin Michelcavage led the Eagles comeback with a pair of goals, including the game-tying goal at 8:53 of the third period. Justin Scott, Kyle Slicker, Clayton Brackett and Anthony Raymond also scored for the Eagles in the win.
“Soo Michigan kept coming and they started working and got momentum and a lot of life and we just stood there like a deer in the headlights and watched it happen,” Carricato said.
John Klienhans stopped 33 shots for the Eagles after Michael Doan was pulled following the fourth Thunderbirds goal. Thunderbirds goaltender Ryan MacDonald stopped 17 shots in the loss.
The Thunderbirds have little time to recover from the loss as they travel to Blind River to take on the Beavers on Thursday night.
“Let’s throw them right back to the wolves and see how they respond,” Carricato said of the quick turn-around between games. “(Thursday) will be a character test. If they come out flat and don’t show any character or any enthusiasm or any pride then it’s up to me to fix that real quick.”
Next home action for the Thunderbirds will be Sunday night when they host the Manitoulin Islanders at 7 p.m.
By Brad Coccimiglio
SooToday.com
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Info from: http://www.sootoday.com/content/sports/full_story.asp?StoryNumber=41691
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