Staff
The Fort Frances Canadians Midget ‘AA’ team found itself in unfamiliar territory last weekend in Duluth.
The squad was unable to advance out of its pool at the Duluth Jr. Gold tournament, finishing with a 1-1-1 record after the round-robin portion.
Fort Frances had opened the tournament with a 6-3 loss to Lakeville.
Lakeville took it to the Canadians in the early going, building up a 5-0 first-period lead on goals by Ricky Metcalf, Eric Ottum, Jack Bergman, and a pair by Alex Geisinger in an 11-second span.
The Canadians bounced back in the second, with Tyler Fontana netting the lone goal of the frame.
Brad McDonald and Wes Anderson then tallied third-period goals to get the Canadians within 5-3 but Ben Hardin quashed the comeback hopes with a goal late in the game.
The Canadians’ defence settled down in their Saturday morning match-up, earning a 1-1 tie with Elk River.
Logan Paige opened the scoring early in first for Elk River but McDonald evened the game at the 23-second mark of the second.
Fort Frances’ offence then busted out in their third game—a 5-0 blanking of the Superior Mariners.
Chris Bobczynski got the Canadians on the scoresheet at 9:48 of the first, followed by McDonald at 12:25.
After Brandon Patterson tallied in the second, Dylan Grinsell and Fontana had third-period goals to round out the scoring.
The Canadians will take to the ice again this weekend at the Star of the North tournament in Grand Rapids, Mn.
Fort Frances again is in a pool with Elk River, and also will face Moorhead in the preliminary round.
