Staff
The Fort Frances Lakers’ three-game winning streak is over.
The Lakers were beaten 3-1 by Thief River Falls here Saturday night as the red-hot Norskies won their 10th-straight game to start the regular season.
Parker Simonson, Jared Pedersen, and Connor Bowey each garnered two points to propel the visitors to victory.
The Norskies tallied twice before the first period was 10 minutes old on markers by Alec Daman and Pedersen.
Noah Loveday got one back for the Lakers at 5:30 of the second but Simonson tallied at 16:45 to cap the scoring.
Brock Lefebvre finished with 29 saves to earn the win.
Rob Ivy faced 40 shots in taking the loss.
The Lakers were coming off a 9-4 romp over the Minnesota Iron Rangers on Friday night down in Hoyt Lakes.
Loveday had a big night, notching his first-ever SIJHL hat trick, while Carter Chorney and Jaden Gustafson doled out four and three assists, respectively.
The Lakers stormed out to a quick 4-0 lead before the first period was 11 minutes old on goals by Loveday, Hunter Buzzi, Ian Jarvis, and Jackie Bernie, which spelled an early end to Iron Rangers’ starting goalie Jackson Nelson’s night.
Mark Sanchez got one back for the Iron Rangers on a power play before the frame was complete.
Loveday and Max Sturko (man advantage) traded goals in the second period to make it 5-2.
After Zach Hayes brought the home side closer just 33 seconds into the third, Jaedin Ness and Matt Butler, with his first, traded goals a couple minutes later.
But it was all Lakers from there as they tacked on three more to secure the victory off the sticks of Loveday, Nick Lucas, and Buzzi.
Seven different Lakers’ had multiple point nights.
Ivy faced 28 shots in earning the win.
Nelson allowed four goals on 10 shots while Tyler Thompson suffered the loss in relief.
The Lakers (5-5-1-1), who sit in third place in the standings with 12 points, next head to Thief River Falls for a pair of games there this Friday and Saturday against those same Norskies.
The Norskies lead the league with a perfect 10-0-0-0 record (20 points), with the Dryden GM Ice Dogs (8-0-2-1) right behind with 19.
The Thunder Bay North Stars (4-5-2-0) are in fourth with 10 points while the English River Miners (4-6-0-0) are in fifth with eight.
The Iron Rangers (1-7-0-2) round out the standings with two points.
Editor’s note: The above article was compiled based on information posted on the SIJHL website.
