The Twin City Thunder opened the National Collegiate Development Conference season with a 4-1 victory over the Boston Bandits on Friday afternoon in Bridgewater, Massachusetts.

The Thunder are in their first season of Tier II junior hockey.

“It was a typical first game of the year for any team and in any league, where there are a lot of mistakes,” Twin City Thunder coach Doug Friedman said. “But it will be good for our guys to learn from this and continue to improve.

“The big focus for us (will be) tomorrow when we are breaking down video and going over our installs and all that. I just want to make sure the guys are on the same page. The effort is there, but overall, we are pleased with the result tonight.”

A familiar face opened the scoring for Twin City early in the first period. Zachary Desmarais, who led the Thunder’s Premier League’s team in scoring last year with 27 goals and 31 assists, found the back of the net 4:04 into the game to make it 1-0. Desmarais also assisted on the Thunder’s first Premier League goal last year.

Desmarais was on a line with Lewiston native Jeromey Rancourt and Matyas Welser.

“Those two guys helped Welser out tonight, and they were one line that was consistent throughout the game,” Friedman said. “They controlled the play a lot, had a lot of good forechecks and played solid defensively. I was pleased with their effort.”

Before the teams went to intermission, Christian Blomquist put the Thunder up 2-0.

In the second period, Nick Rashkovsky, who had one of the two assists on Blomquist’s goal, stretched the lead to 3-0 near the midway point.

“Nick is a real (heads-up) player and he made some real nice scoring plays on the ice out there,” Friedman said. “He’s another guy that brings a high-compete level. He’s not an overly big player, but he plays big and he’s a strong skater, just really smart.”

The Thunder went on a five-minute major power play with a little more than eight minutes left in the period when Boston’s Jace Rearic was called for spearing, which also resulted in a game misconduct. Zach Egber scored for the Thunder 27 seconds into the man advantage.

Jared Thomas’s goal spoiled Twin City goalie Artur Ozangharian’s shutout bid in the third period.

Ozangharian made 37 saves in the victory, while Bandits goalie Connor McAnanama made 29 saves in the loss.

“The big thing we weathered the early storm from the Bandits, they were on us in the first period,” Friedman said. “Arturs played really well in net and made some key stops for us and we kind of gained momentum in the second. I think that was a big key for us.”

The Thunder will play the Connecticut Jr. Rangers on Saturday at 7:20 p.m. and Sunday at 1:15 p.m. in Stamford, Connecticut.

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