Spirit drop final preseason contest to Greyhounds, 5-4
Saginaw, Mich. – The Saginaw Spirit lost to division rival Sault Ste. Marie on Saturday night, 5-4 from the Dow Events Center. Goaltender Landon Miller started for the Greyhounds, stopping 36 of 40 shots, while Brett Fullerton stopped 14 of 19 for the Spirit.
The scoring began early when Sault Ste. Marie’s Marco Mignosa scored his first of the pre-season after taking a pass in the slot from Ethan Montroy, slipping it in between the legs of Brett Fullerton at 5:14.
At 17:20 in the first, Will Bishop took a pass from Carson Harmer at the blue and sent a shot on net that was tipped by Valentin Zhugin. His team-leading third goal of the preseason got Saginaw a much-needed 1-1 tie
Just over a minute later, the Soo struck again when Connor Toms swung a pass off the side boards to Owen Allard. A one-time past Fullerton’s ear advanced the score to 2-1 Greyhounds.
At the end of the first period Saginaw was trailing Sault Ste. Marie 2-1 despite more than doubling the Greyhounds in shots, 13-6.
2:10 into the second period, Saginaw’s Aiden Young committed a high-sticking penalty. Sault Ste. Marie took advantage of the opportunity when Matthew Virgilio took a pass from Brady Martin near the blue line and shot through traffic for a 3-1 lead.
Midway through the period, Saginaw’s Zayne Parekh was called for a roughing, landing him two minutes in the box. On the penalty kill, Saginaw’s Aiden Young committed a tripping penalty, while PJ Forgione and the Soo’s Matthew Virgilio both received roughing calls.
On the five on three advantage, the Greyhounds capitalized when Connor Toms fired a shot through Fullerton with assists to Owen Allard and Marco Mignosa. The Soo held a commanding 4-1 lead.
At 13:42 into the second, Sault Ste. Marie went on the penalty kill when Conor Toms committed a tripping penalty. On the power play, Saginaw scored their second of the game off a pass and shot combo from Valentin Zhugin and Michael Misa. The youngster lasered his shot past the Greyhounds keeper Landon Miller, bringing the Spirit back to within a pair of goals.
Saginaw still trailed 4-2 going into the third, out shooting the Greyhounds 13-9 in the second period and 26-15 throughout the game.
The final period began with a penalty by Saginaw’s PJ Forgione and Sault Ste. Marie’s Julian Fantino at 4:23 and 5:19 respectively. This was followed by a Greyhounds’ penalty on Jordan D’Intino that gave the Spirit a four on three power play for 14 seconds, and a subsequent five on three power play for 1:10.
On the power play, Valentin Zhugin snapped a shot from between the circles off a pass from Zayne Parekh and pulled the Spirit back to within a 4-3 score.
Saginaw drew a second power play late in the third period and it was a point shot from Zayne Parekh that tied the game at 4-4. Valentin Zhugin and Michael Misa assisted on the goals, 17:20 into the third.
At 18:58, Sault Ste. Marie’s Matthew Virgillio committed a trip that put the Spirit on a power play with little time remaining. A dumped puck in behind the Saginaw goal was mishandled by Brett Fullerton, and Jordan D’Intino fed Justin Cloutier in front of the net for what proved to be a shorthanded game-winner.
The Greyhounds took a 5-4 win in their final preseason game, despite being outshot by the Spirit 40-19.
Saginaw’s next game is on September 29th against Kitchener Rangers at Kitchener Memorial Auditorium at 7:00 pm, the opening game of the 2023-24 regular season
For more information, visit saginawspirit.com or follow the team on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok.
For media inquiries, contact Dillon Clark at [email protected].
