Staff
The local Kitowski Trucking PeeWee girls’ hockey squad wrapped up the “November Chill” tournament in Thunder Bay with a 3-2 overtime victory over the Dryden Herricanes to secure the bronze medal with a 4-1 overall record.
Sarah Milling scored in the overtime to lead Fort Frances to victory. Angel McCormack and Claire Sandelovich had scored in the opening period.
“We were very pleased with the girls’ effort and teamwork,” assistant coach John Pierce lauded. “We had only played two games prior to competing in Thunder Bay, so the girls bonded quickly and played well as a team, and that team play resulted in great results all weekend.”
The squad opened the tournament with a sound 4-0 victory over the McDonald’s Sharks on Friday. Sandelovich, Syndee McLeod, Cassandra Moffitt, and McCormack led the Fort Frances attack with a goal apiece.
Kitowski Trucking then suffered their lone defeat in their next game, falling 3-1 to Dryden’s PetroCan.
Amy Doudiet had two goals to pace Dryden to victory, with Cassidy Hoedl adding the other. Sandelovich netted the lone marker for Fort Frances.
But the team rebounded in their next game, trouncing the Thunder Bay Maroons 6-0. Sandelovich had two more goals to go with an assist while McLeod, Brittany Hyatt, and Amy Penner netted singles.
Kitowski Trucking then wrapped up round-robin play with a hard-fought 3-2 win over the McDonald’s Bears. Sandelovich capped a strong tournament with the hat trick while Elizabeth Henderson added two assists.
That win secured second place in Pool ‘B’ with a 3-1 record, which sent the team directly to the third-place game.
Meanwhile, Fort Frances’ other PeeWee team, the Lakewood Tire Eagles, narrowly missed out on the medal round after finishing the round-robin portion of the tournament with a 2-1-1 record in Pool ‘A.’
They had opened play with a 5-0 loss to the Dryden PT Cruisers but rebounded with a 4-2 win over the Petrie Stars. Then they edged the Sabres 2-1 before closing out the round-robin with a 3-3 tie versus the Dryden Herks.
The Eagles had pulled their goalie and tied the game with five seconds left to escape with the one point.
The Eagles, who finished third in Pool ‘A,’ then tied McDonald’s Sharks 1-1 in the fifth-place game to close out their tournament.
