Picking up their third straight win of the series as visitors to the Chelmsford Arena, the Soo Thunderbirds advanced to the NOJHL final Monday evening after slipping past the Rayside-Balfour Canadians 3-2, capturing the best of seven match-up in six games.

The T-Birds broke the ice in game six, as Matthew Bazarin capitalized early on the power play, but Rayside responded quickly, with Evan Krassey netting a power play goal of his own and fellow veteran Noah Serre giving his team a one goal lead after twenty minutes of play.

The middle stanza proved to be the difference maker as Sault Ste Marie garnered their eventual margin of victory on tallies from Spence Van Tiem and Brendan Miller, with neither team able to bulge the twine in the third.

Colin Ahern registered the win in net for the Thunderbirds, finishing with 27 saves in all while David Bowen stopped 32 of the 35 shots directed his way. The Soo now moves on to face the Hearst Lumberjacks in the NOJHL final, which was claimed last year by the Cochrane Crunch.