Brian Burger skates the puck into the Thunder’s offensive zone.
Camera IconBrian Burger skates the puck into the Thunder’s offensive zone. Credit: Supplied/Supplied

Thunder finals hopes over

Tom Rabe, Eastern ReporterEastern Reporter

The North Stars took hold of the game early, scoring twice against Perth keeper Daniel Clarke.

Newcastle went on to score twice more in the second period and added another two in the third with a hat-trick from Quebec native Pier-Olivier Cotnoir sealing their place against the Sydney Ice Dogs in the AIHL Grand Final.

Perth Thunder forward Sam Wilson added a goal late in the second.

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Perth coach Stan Scott said although he was disappointed with his young team’s finals run coming to an end, he was encouraged by their performance and looked forward to next year and hoped for a grand final appearance.

‘I think for us this year was a big step forward, it’s only our second year in the competition, we’ve got a young side and I thought they held themselves well,’ he said.

Scott said he hoped the team could take what they learnt this year into the 2014 season.

‘This year our goal was to make the finals and we did that, next year we’re focusing on finishing the season on top so we go into the finals in number one position,’ Scott said.

The Thunder finished third in the league this year, earning them their first finals appearance since their inception into the league last year.