MADISON, Wis. – The Thunder Bay major midget Kings are off to a winning start at the Gold Medal Classic in Madison, Wis., after defeating Team Illinois 5-2 in their opening contest late Friday evening.
After Illinois opened the scoring, the Kings countered with markers from Peter Hannula and Michael Vecchio to take a 2-1 lead after one period of play.
Thunder Bay was quick to add to their cushion early in the middle stanza thanks to tallies from Christian Veneruzzo and Vecchio.
Veneruzzo then tacked on another to make it 5-1 before Illinois got one back before the session was complete.
It went scoreless from there as the Kings’ tightened up defensively to secure the victory.
The club outshot their opponents 31-19 on the night with Jordan Smith picking up the win in net.
A pair of games awaits Thunder Bay Saturday beginning with a 2:30 p.m. ET match-up against the Sioux Falls Stampede before wrapping up the day vs. the host Madison Capitols at 8:10 p.m. ET.
Meanwhile, the minor midget Kings dropped their first two games at the Tournament of Champions event in Peterborough, Ont., Friday falling 4-1 to the Buffalo Jr. Sabres and 4-2 to the Burlington Eagles.
Saturday has the minor midgets meeting the host Peterborough Petes at 9:45 a.m. before they conclude round robin action at 8:15 p.m. with an encounter vs. the Markham Waxers.
