Lucas Punkari
The third time indeed was the charm for the Fort Frances Timbits on Sunday.
After losing to the Lake of the Woods Red Devils in the final of their home tourney last year, and dropping a title game in Kenora earlier this season, the local squad came through with a 3-1 victory in the Novice final of the FFGWHA’s Novice and Atom tournament this weekend.
“I remember that last year’s game was a very close one, so the girls were really anxious to get it done here today,” said Timbits’ head coach Kevin Penney.
“The girls skated hard, and they were able to put together a few goals, and that helped a lot to get things going, especially with our strong defence,” he added.
Chelsey DeGagne netted a pair of goals to help the Timbits clinch the title, with Samantha Kelly scoring on a breakaway late in the third period to seal the deal.
Earlier Sunday, the Timbits nabbed a berth into the final with a 3-0 shutout of the Lake of the Woods Panthers.
“We knew it was going to be a tough game, as in the first round-robin game we had against them we won in a tight 2-0 contest,” Penney noted.
“Like they did in the final, the girls came out hard and kept on playing that way for the whole game as it didn’t take a whole lot to get them ready with a berth into the final at stake.”
While the loss in the final was a tough one, Red Devils’ head coach Jessica Rheault said she still was very happy with how her girls played.
“They came together as a team and we went undefeated going into this game,” she noted.
“Unfortunately, when you win the silver medal, that, of course, means that you lost the final game.
“But the girls played really hard and we’re all proud of them,” Rheault lauded.
In the Atom final, meanwhile, it was a border battle between the International Falls 10U’s and the Fort Frances Calder Legal Eagles, where it was the visitors skating away with a 3-1 victory.
“We played well all weekend, and the main thing for us as coaches was to see that the girls were having fun,” said Falls’ head coach Steven Boyom.
“We play the Eagles quite a lot and they always give us a good challenge whenever we are playing against them,” he added.
“You never really know what you are going to see when we go head-to-head.”
The Eagles, who lost 4-0 to International Falls in the round-robin, advanced to the final with a 4-0 shutout over the Lake of the Woods Hornets in the semi-finals earlier Sunday.
Kamrym Singleton led the attack with a hat trick while Sydney Korkola added an insurance marker.
“In the morning game, the girls played their butts off,” said Eagles’ head coach Tom Kenny.
“They were doing everything that they were working on all season long in our drills, and to see them use all of that in a game was great to see.”
“That was something that we saw all weekend long,” echoed assistant coach Shane Korkola.
“And even though we lost in the final, the girls played just as strong in that game as they had in the others,” he added.
Kendra Calder had the lone goal for the Eagles in the final.
Other local teams competing this weekend were the Emo Rockets in the Novice division, along with the Fort Frances Rolling Lake Lightning and Emo Penguins in Atom action.
But all three teams ended up just missing out on making the playoffs.
