After a hard-fought victory at home, the Fort Frances Lakers will head to Oliver Paipoonge Sunday, looking to cap off their series against the Kam River Walleye with one last win.
Teagan Wrolstad had a goal and an assist Friday night, and goaltender Brady Cates stopped 32 of 33 shots as a pair of Rainy River District sons helped the Lakers to a 3-1 win over the Kam River Fighting Walleye.
Jace Van Eps got the Lakers going inside six minutes of the first period with the Lakers on the power play. Van Eps potted the rebound off a Wrolstad shot from the doorstep to give the home team the lead.
The Lakers would kill off a penalty to Jud Pesch, and Wrolstad would double the lead just past the halfway point of the opening frame.
Wrolstad forced a Walleye turnover near centre ice, and Carter Deschamps found Wrolstad, who carried it into the offensive end and wired it past Walleye goalie Sam Keene from above the left faceoff circle.
The goal marked three in the series for Wrolstad, who opened the scoring in Wednesday night’s ill-fated contest on the road.
After the game, Wrolstad said the team was looking to respond following a tough road trip. That saw the Lakers lose their series advantage with 4-1 and 6-1 losses.
“We had a tough two games down in their barn, and we were definitely a little mad coming back here, so I think the boys responded well,” he said.
Grateful for the strong fan support, Wrolstad recalled the Lakers of years gone by, who won three championships between 2014 and 2016.
“I watched the 2014 to 2016 Lakers when they were winning; they three-peated, and this is the closest I’ve ever seen the arena to that back in the day, so I love it, and I thank every one of them for coming out and showing support.”
After Wrolstad’s goal, Judd Pesch would put one past Keene from the slot, on the power play with the feed from Cooper Hills.
The Walleye scored less than a minute later when six-foot-nine Eron Mitchell, who usually makes his honey in front of the net, took a long shot from the point that beat Cates glove side high to make it 3-1.
However, the first period would see the end of the scoring. The Lakers weathered a lopsided middle frame where they struggled to clear the zone, and got doubled up on shots 16-8 by the Walleye.
It was the five-foot-10 Cates who had the last laugh, foiling the Walleye the rest of the way. The Walleye once again pulled Keene in an effort to try to level the score with under two minutes to go; however, the Lakers fared better than the two previous home games and held on for the 3-1 victory.
Cates said the team stuck to its game plan after two tough losses in Kam River that saw the team take 27 minutes worth of penalties in the first game and 49 in the second.
“I think it was just sticking to our game,” the Emo native said. “I think while we were in Kam River, we kind of got away from it, we got into the stuff after the whistle, and we took too many penalties, some dumb ones, and it cost us.”
Cates also noted that the players in front of him cleared away bodies well.
“They have that big guy Mitchell there, he’s always in front, I think we’ve seen what he’s been able to do. He’s been really effective this year, so I think we’ve done a better job of clearing those big bodies out of the way because you know, I’m not a big guy, and he’s six-nine. It’s kind of hard to see anything past him, so I think clearing those lanes and also blocking a lot more shots, I found tonight, definitely made a big difference.”
Head Coach Luke Judson said following the game, it would need to be more of the same kind of play to win the series in six games instead of coming home for game seven.
“It’s not rocket science; it’s effort, it’s physicality, it’s team,” Judson said. “It’s all those things you saw tonight. Playing on the road shouldn’t be a real issue for a team like ours; it’s something we’re going to have to overcome to be a championship team. Hopefully, that starts tomorrow.”
The Lakers will head to Kam River’s rink for a 7:05 p.m. Eastern Time start on Sunday, looking to close out the series.
Should the Lakers win, they will know their opponents. The third-seeded Thunder Bay North Stars dismantled the Dryden Ice Dogs 10-3 Friday night in Dryden to win that series in five games.
