It almost ended, but they found a way.
The Soo Thunderbirds got an overtime goal from Cooper Foster to beat the Soo (Mich.) Eagles 4-3 on Wednesday night at the John Rhodes Community Centre.
With the victory, the Thunderbirds take a 2-0 series lead in the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League West Division final and extend their winning streak to 24 games in the process.
The Eagles opened the scoring 6:49 into the contest when Tyler Culleton grabbed a turnover near the Thunderbirds blueline and proceeded to beat Noah Metivier high glove side on a breakaway to make it 1-0 Eagles.
The Thunderbirds needed just 21 seconds to tie the game as Foster moved into the slot took a pass from Kelsey Ouellet on the right wing before beating Eagles starter Gabe Rosek high stick side.
The Thunderbirds took a 2-1 lead in the middle stanza when Kaden Dundas drove to the Eagles net and redirected a pass from Sam Lake past Rosek at 11:04.
Early in the third period, the home side took a 3-1 lead when Michael Chaffay took a pass from Foster below the goalline after a turnover and beat Rosek stick side at 4:08.
The Eagles cut the lead back down to one goal at 13:12 when Jacob Swiatek sent the puck to the net from a sharp angle, and it found its way past Metivier to make it 3-2.
Brian Fiddes then tied the game with 2:16 to go and Rosek heading to the bench for the extra attacker. Fiddes took a pass in the right faceoff circle from Jack Mortson and his initial shot was stopped but he followed it up and scored on the rebound to force overtime.
After the teams traded chances through much of the extra frame, Foster picked up the game winner at 14:42 when he took a drop pass from Ouellet near the top of the left circle, skated through the circle and into the slot before outwaiting Rosek and beating the Eagles netminder to give the Thunderbirds the win.
Foster finished the night with two goals and an assist for the Thunderbirds while Ouellet also had three points with a trio of assists in the victory.
Metivier stopped 38 shots.
Rosek made 30 saves for the Eagles, who outshot the Thunderbirds by a 41-34 margin in the game.
The series now shifts to the Michigan Sault and resumes with game three on Friday night at Pullar Stadium.
Game four is scheduled for Saturday, also at Pullar Stadium.
In the East Division final, the Hearst Lumberjacks scored five unanswered goals en route to a 5-3 win over the Timmins Rock to even their series at one.
Game three between the Lumberjacks and Rock is scheduled for Saturday night in Hearst.
