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GNML: Timmins Majors Gain Ground With Two Wins*
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TIMMINS - Timmins Majors forward Wayne Mathieu may have found a new calling in life: Fortune teller.

Prior to Friday night's Great North Midget League game against the Kapuskasing Flyers, Mathieu not only guaranteed his team would win, but predicted teammate Jace Soroko would score the winning goal.

What started off as playful pre-game banter soon became reality at the McIntyre Arena on Friday, as Soroko picked up a loose puck in front of the net with the game tied 1-1 and slid it past Flyers goaltender Kurtis David with 11:32 to go in the game.

The Majors and goalie Scott Swain survived a late Kapuskasing flurry – including a pair of goalposts in the final minute – to hang on for the 2-1 win and climb out of the GNML basement.

“I don't know, (Soroko) has just been on fire lately,” said Mathieu about his bold pre-game prediction for Friday's game against Kapuskasing. “The boys were pumped for this game, and I had a good feeling.”

Timmins coaches Matt Tremblay and Cedric Bradette credited Kapuskasing (3-9-0-1) for their strong play, but pointed out that David kept the Flyers in the game for longer than what might have been expected. The Majors staff counted shot totals 47-24 in favour of Timmins.

The Flyers got on the board early in the Majors' first home game since back on Sept. 14. Between then and Friday, Timmins had played eight regular season games and two tournaments on the road.

Tyler Minoletti made it 1-0 for the Flyers at 11:23 of the first period on a play assisted by Trevor Cheff and Zachary Larose. After a strong Kapuskasing start though, Timmins started to turn the tide.

“We've had a tough time having a level of consistency and discipline, and honestly, this game was a perfect case of it,” said Flyers head coach Glen Denney after the game. “We thought we played a pretty solid first, and all of sudden we don't get some bounces, and that energy and attitude equates to how we play.”

He also talked about the pair of late chances that resulted in goalposts for his team — one with one minute to go, and another off an offensive-zone faceoff with three seconds left in the game.

“In the end, you make your own luck,” said Denney. “If all of a sudden we were doing things right, they probably would have gone in. But if you're taking shortcuts and you don't have 19 guys working, those pucks don't go in.”

As for Swain, the sound of rubber hitting iron was music to his ears.

“I'd like to thank the posts,” he joked with a large smile after the game.

“I was just trying to stay focused, not getting down on myself and just keep going at it.”

David stymied the Majors on multiple occasions, but had no chance when sniper Dylan Bruce used his big body to find space in the slot and rip a shot into the net with 3:53 to go in the second frame. Soroko and linemate Jordan Picard assisted on the play. All three finished with two points on Friday.

“Offensively, the line of Dylan Bruce, Jordan Picard and Jace Soroko, they brought their game, and it was helped out by everyone else as well,” said Tremblay, who added the Majors also hit two posts throughout the game.

Soroko, a rookie who spent last season with the bantam 'AAA' Timmins Eagles, has started to find the scoresheet regularly for a Majors team struggling for offense in the first part of the season.

“It's because I've been playing with good linemates, we've been practising hard together,” said Soroko.

“We've just got to keep playing hard, keep scoring goals. That's what we need to do, start scoring goals; we need to work on our power play, but our penalty kill is amazing, and we've just got to keep it up defensively.”

Swain has continued to split time in the Majors goal with fellow rookie Jaedon Giguere, with whom he said he has a “strong” relationship. Swain said he's more than happy to continue platooning the net with Giguere, as long as the team can add to their winning ways.

“We've both been playing well. (Coach) told us that if we both play strong, we'll just keep going back and forth, and I'm OK with that.”

Bradette said it was nice to see one of the team's goalies get rewarded for what has been a relatively tough season so far.

“(Swain) made all the saves he had to, he made a few big saves for us, and that's the difference in the end; congrats to him, it was a big game for him,” said Bradette.

And though Mathieu, who sits near the top of the Majors' scoring list, didn't get on the scoresheet on Friday, Bradette said the shifty, hard-nosed forward played his best game of the season.

“I'd like to mention Wayne for his effort today,” said Bradette. “We had him on two lines out there and he didn't stop the whole game. He took a couple of penalties that could have hurt us, but we pulled through, we killed if off for him, and I think he had his best game of the year here today.”

The Majors kept the good times rolling on Sunday afternoon, as Greg Willett's late second-period marker held up as the winner in a 3-2 Timmins victory over the second-place Sault Ste. Marie Thunderbirds.

Bruce continued on his recent hot streak, scoring early in the first period on a play assisted by Picard. Brad Thrower tied it up for the Soo early in the second, but Tyler Chamberlain's power-play goal with just over six minutes to go in the middle frame put the Majors up 2-1. Evan Kentish-Stack and Stewart Parnell assisted on Willett's marker before the end of the period.

Lukas Millar's power-play goal in the third wasn't enough for the Soo, as Giguere and the Majors held on for a hugely important win.

They now have eleven points to go with their 5-8-0-1 record and have moved up to fifth in the seven-team GNML standings.

“Hopefully all the kinks are gone,” said Tremblay. “I think the boys are turning it around and I think they're starting to realize that if they play well defensively, things will come.”


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