With the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League regular season set to begin next weekend, the Soo Thunderbirds wrapped up exhibition action on Saturday night at Pullar Stadium.
After picking up a 4-3 win on Friday, the Thunderbirds dropped a 5-3 decision to the Soo (Mich.) Eagles on Saturday.
Braden Robbins, Kaiden MacDonald, and Brenden Miller completed the scoring for the Thunderbirds.
Goaltender Eric Schuch had a busy night in goal for the Thunderbirds, making 46 saves in the loss.
Zach Hayes, Kyle Quinn, and Nick Techel had a goal and an assist each for the Eagles. Kode Keller assisted on two goals for the Eagles. Mihali See and Owen Kipke also scored for the Eagles.
Carter McPhail got the start in goal for the Eagles and stopped 20 of 22 shots in 40 minutes of work. John Massara came in and stopped five of six shots in the third period.
The Thunderbirds open the regular season with a three-game road trip beginning on Sept. 8 in Hearst against the Lumberjacks. The trip will also take the Thunderbirds to Cochrane to face the Crunch on Sept. 9 and to Timmins on Sept. 10 to face the Rock.
The team opens the home portion of the schedule on Sept. 15 at the John Rhodes Community Centre against the Blind River Beavers.