Thunder 1-1 in weekend games

Jeff Helsdon, Editor

Splitting a pair of weekend games brought the Thunder within two points of Elora and Dunnville, which are tied for sixth in the South Conference of the OEHL.

The Thunder pulled off an impressive 5-3 win on Saturday against first-place Seaforth Centenaires.

Tillsonburg was first on the board with a goal at 13:28 when Danny Attridge was fed by Jaden VanSevenant. Seaforth evened the score, but then Braden Roberts unassisted short-handed goal put Tillsonburg in front 2-1. A powerplay goal by Luke Sinclair, from Roberts and Attridge, gave Tillsonburg a larger edge, but Seaforth narrowed it to a 3-2 lead before period’s end.

Attridge again extended the lead with the only goal of the second. He added another, unassisted in the third, before Seaforth managed one more with only five seconds left on the clock.

Tillsonburg started the weekend with a disappointing 9-4 loss to long-time rival the Tavistock Royals. Tavistock took a 2-0 lead after the first, and was in front 4-0 after two periods. Tillsonburg came to life in the third, outscoring Tavistock 4-3 for the period, but were unable to overcome the previous deficit.

Tavistock was in front 9-0, before Nicolas D’Agostino broke the Thunder’s scoring drought with 4:23 left in the third with a power play goal that was assisted by Roberts and Luke Sinclair. Once the Thunder started, they scored three quick. The second was the same combination of scoring as the first. It was then Attridge’s turn with Roberts and Tye Johnson feeding him. Kane Johnson scored the last goal with Robert MacLean and Luke Sinclair assisting.

The Thunder are home Saturday night, hosting the fourth-place Petrolia Squires in an important game as the Thunder jockey for playoff rankings. Game time is 7:30 p.m.