The Soo North Stars have begun the second season with the same dominance they displayed in the regular season.
After a 4-0 shutout on Saturday and a 3-2 win on Sunday at the John Rhodes Community Centre, the North Stars have taken a commanding 2-0 lead in the best-of-five Great North Midget League quarterfinal series with the Valley East Consbec Cobras.
The series will now shift east to Val Caron for game three at the Ray Plourde Arena on Friday at 8:20 p.m. Game four, if necessary, is scheduled for Saturday.
The North Stars finished the regular season on top of the GNML with a 32-2-0-2 record for 66 points while Valley East finished eighth at 9-26-0-1 for 19 points.
Michael Maulucci recorded the shutout in Saturday's blanking of the Cobras. Michael D'Agostini, Matt D'Agostini, Michael Sharp and Jake McClelland scored a goal each while Matt Caria added two assists.
On Sunday, the North Stars dominated the Cobras and outshot the visitors 45-15. The spectacular goaltending of Joshua Sutherland held the potent North Stars offense to only three goals.
Tyler Gendron, Paul Dupont and Kyle Rodgers provided the scoring for the North Stars while Adam Kauppi recorded a pair of assists. Travis O'Brien recorded the win in net.
In other playoff action around the league, Rayside Balfour and New Liskeard are tied a 1-1 after each team traded 5-2 victories over the weekend. Kapuskasing took a 2-0 lead over Sudbury Lockerby with a 2-1 overtime win before a 6-0 decision in game two. Kirkland Lake and Timmins traded 4-1 wins to even that series at 1-1.