Cowboys win their own tourney

The Emo Cowboys downed the Whitefish Bay Rangers 6-2 on Sunday afternoon to win their own Bantam tournament at the Emo-La Vallee Community Centre.
The Cowboys jumped on the scoreboard first on Donald Kellar’s marker, assisted by Matt Meyers, at the five-minute mark of the opening frame.
Ken Vargas and Nathan Shute both scored in the second period (each assisted by Joel McCoy) to put Emo up 3-0, then Jeff Friesen (from Meyers) and Meyers (from Friesen) made it 5-0 early in the third.
Though things looked bleak, Whitefish Bay did not roll over, scoring twice in the space of 10 seconds off the sticks of John White and Bobbie Williamson to spoil Bill Angus’ shutout bid.
But that was as close as the Rangers would get, with McCoy (from Jonathon Kinnear and Vargas) icing the victory with an empty-net goal with one second left on the clock.
“They played tremendous games throughout the tournament,” Cowboys coach Larry Kellar said of his players.
Three Fort Frances teams–Canadian Tire, the Oddfellows, and IBEW Lightning–also participated.
The Cowboys opened action Friday by downing IBEW 5-3 on three third-period goals by Friesen (two) and Kellar.
David Lovisa (two) and Travis Green had put the Lightning up 3-0 in the early going but Emo fought back on goals by Meyers and Vargas to make it 3-2 heading into the third.
Canadian Tire tangled with the Oddfellows in the second contest, losing 7-3. James Algie, Josh McMahon, and John Yellowega led the way with two goals each while Ryan Holt netted the other one.
Shane Katona (two) and Leigh Jarvis replied for Canadian Tire.
On Saturday morning, Whitefish Bay was blanked 3-0 by the Cowboys on goals by Kellar (two) and Shute. Then the Oddfellows downed IBEW 3-1 on goals by Josh McMahon, Damien Allen, and Dina Morelli.
Green scored the lone Lightning goal.
Then Canadian Tire overcame a one-goal decifit–twice–to earn a 4-4 tie against Whitefish Bay. Tied at 3-3 heading into the third, Travis Redsky put the Rangers on top again at the six-minute mark.
But Canadian Tire pushed hard and was rewarded when Katona notched his second goal of the game with just one minute to play.
Leading 3-1 after one period, the Cowboys were hard pressed to stay alive in their game against the Oddfellows. Joel McCoy’s second goal of the game in the second proved to be the game-winner but Fort Frances scored twice in the third to make it close. Josh McMahon scored all three goals for the Oddfellows while Kellar and Shute also found the range for Emo.
The final Saturday contest pitted Canadian Tire against IBEW, which wound up in a 4-4 tie when Nick Botsford tallied his second goal of the game with just 14 seconds to play.
Jeff Wiersema and Tyler Windigo also scored for the Lightning while Steve VanDulman, Justin DeGagne, Mike Rose, and Leigh Jarvis all tallied for Canadian Tire
On Sunday morning, the Oddfellows were edged 3-2 by Whitefish Bay on Redsky’s counter with 1:59 on the clock.
Josh Copenace and Robbie Williamson tallied the other Ranger goals, with Shyler Rodrigues and James Algie netting singles for the Fort squad.
The Cowboys then handed Canadian Tire a 6-4 loss. Friesen led the way with a hat trick while Tyler Mann added two and Kellar one. Shane Katona (two), Mike Rose and Justin Addison flashed the light for the Fort.
The noon game was a no contest right from the opening whistle as Whitefish Bay scored three goals in the first period, four in the second, and three more in the third for a 10-1 drubbing over IBEW.
Redsky had four goals for the Rangers while Bruce Kavanaugh and Josh Copenace had two. Robbie Williamson and Tyler Joseph were other marksmen.
Green blinked the light for IBEW in the second.
In other news, tournament co-ordinator Miles Kinnear has a 50-50 ticket numbered 013580. If anyone has this number, contact him to claim your winnings.