SUPERIOR, Colo. – The Thunder Bay major midget Kings got a hat trick from Quintin Loon-Stewardson to help them defeat the Northern Cyclones of New Hampshire 5-2 Sunday in North American Prospects Hockey League competiton in Superior, Colo., while the under-16 minor midgets dropped a narrow 2-0 decision to the Everett Jr. Silvertips from Washington State.
Thunder Bay got off to a solid start in the under-18 contest grabbing a 2-0 lead early on markers from Robert McCollum and Evan Nicholas 56 seconds apart.
The Cyclones rebounded by scoring late in the first and early in the second to knot the affair at 2-2 only to see Loon-Stewardson notch the eventual game-winner at 11:36 of the middle session, while his club was shorthanded.
He then added some insurance at 3:26 of the third before icing it in the late going to cap off his three-goal performance.
Seth McKay made 31 stops to record the win for the Kings, who fired 37 shots on the opposition’s net.
The majors finished their weekend in Colorado going 3-1 and have moved up to 12th place in the 18-team U-18 division with a 4-6-1-2 record.
In the under-16 contest, after a scoreless opening period, Everett saw Dawson Butt tally twice, including one into an empty net with seven seconds remaining to secure the victory for the Silvertips.
Shots on goal favoured Everett by a 28-24 count with Jacob Fry posting the shutout while Christian Cicigoi stopped 26 of the 27 attempts he faced in defeat.
With a 6-6-0-1 overall record in NAPHL play, the minor midgets sit tied for ninth among 17 clubs in the U-16 conference.
The U-18 Kings are back on the ice Friday as they host the Filane’s Falcons of Schreiber in Lakehead Junior Hockey League play at 8 p.m. at Fort William First Nation Arena.
As for the minor midgets, they will return home to prepare for the Silver Stick International, Nov. 24-27 in Whitby, Ont.
