Press Release
This past weekend, the local PeeWee girls’ team, the Lakewood Tire Eagles, proved too much for anyone to handle at the “Fire on Ice” tournament in Emo.
Opening play Friday with a convincing 4-0 win over a much-improved and well-coached Emo Predators team, Rachel Jean opened the scoring on a pass from Abby Plourde to jump-start the offence.
Lauren Hamilton, sprung on back-to-back breakaways by passes from Shannon Bird and Alexis Morisseau, widened the gap for the Fort squad.
Emma Noga rounded out the scoring in the third.
Marissa Loveday earned her first of three shutouts on the weekend while Hamilton was chosen as the game MVP.
Their second game saw the local squad face off against the solid Kenora Vortex, with the Eagles emerging 3-0.
Noga, with the hot stick, opened the scoring on a wrist shot top shelf after a brilliant pass from Sidney Johnson had sprung her for a breakaway.
Jean then wound her way up ice and scored a goal after Anika Beaudry directed a pass up the boards to send her loose down the right side.
Kenora had numerous chances to score but the shutdown defensive pairing of “Slammin” Sam McKinnon and Katelin “The Hammer” Gurniak proved to be impossible for the Vortex to breach.
Noga salted the game away after a mad scramble late in the third.
Loveday recorded her second-staight shutout while Sid “the Squid” Johnson was named game MVP.
Game three proved to be the real test for the Eagles as their foe was their arch-rivals—the mighty Super 8 squad from Fort Frances.
The Eagles have struggled against Super 8’s firepower, led by Riley Redford and Myla Angus and complemented with a solid defensive core.
Lakewood Tire overcame the past, however, blanking the challenging Super 8 squad 2-0.
Super 8 did not disappoint, peppering Loveday with a flurry of shots to open the game. But Loveday proved the first two shutouts were no fluke as she barred the door and kept her team alive.
After one rebound Loveday kicked out, Noga was off to the races and made no mistake to open the scoring for the Eagles.
There were numerous good chances for both sides but Harley Brow-Rose held the Super 8 squad in the game until once again Noga got loose on a great feed from Caitlin Visser to ice the victory.
Loveday, pitching her third-straight shutout, was selected game MVP.
Game four was the true test of character for the Eagles as they were handed a quick surprise by a tough Kenora Dynamite team.
The Eagles came out flat and Kenora took advantage early, breaking the shutout streak early in the first on a goalmouth scramble.
A sloppy game then got worse for Fort Frances as Kenora scored on the power play late in the second.
A rallying speech by coaches Dan Jean and Trevor McKinnon between periods seemed to spark the girls as the tide begin to turn in the third.
Pressuring hard on Kenora’s goalie, but unable to beat her, was proving frustrating for Fort and resulted in a penalty with under two minutes to play. But the Eagles refused to give up.
Down a player but with their goalie pulled, Plourde ripped a goal with 52 seconds to pull within one.
The Eagles then won the draw on the ensuing face-off and charged into the Kenora end, where Jean hammered home a wrister from the edge of the circle to knot the score at 2-2.
The girls went hard for the win, and Johnson even ripped one of the post with two seconds left, but settled for the hard-fought tie.
With their terrific record of three wins and a tie, the Eagles moved on to the final on Sunday against the Kenora Vortex.
The Eagles left no doubt as to who had come to play.
Noga wasted little time scoring on a well-executed bank pass from Madison Botsford for another breakaway wrist-shot goal. Then early in the second, Hamilton scored on a textbook three-way passing play from Bird and Morisseau.
Fort Frances widened the gap as Noga coralled a Tory Beaudry rebound and blasted it home her second of the game.
Jean and Plourde later stretched the lead to 4-0.
Some penalty trouble gave the Vortex some life as they were able to crack Loveday late in the second, but it was short-lived. The Eagles came out and swarmed the Kenora net even though they were shorthanded for half of the period.
Emily Bird, a buzzsaw all weekend, iced the victory with just a second left on the clock.
In all, the Eagles outscored their opponents 16-3 over the weekend.
Judging by their excitement hoisting the “big purple trophy,” the girls clearly were satisfied and content with their effort.
Meanwhile, the Fort Frances Super 8 squad closed the weekend in the bronze-medal game Sunday afternoon—a crowd-pleasing affair against the Kenora Dynamite that went to double overtime.
The contest was tight throughout, with Super 8 going up 1-0, the Dynamite getting the equalizer, and then Super 8’s veteran defender, Lindsay Dixon, one-timing a 50-foot snap shot with centre Myla Angus screening for a 2-1 lead.
The Dynamite counted a late marker, however, to send the contest to overtime at 2-2.
A five-minute five-on-five overtime ensued and a fired-up Super 8 crew pummeled the Dynamite with shots.
Left-wingers Claire Tibbs and Kassidy Fryer, and right-sider Keira Singleton, forechecked extremely hard all game long and all three created scoring chances in the first overtime.
With no resolution in the first OT, the second overtime period began and a wild bouncing shot eluded Super 8 goalie Carly McKinnon to clinch a 3-2 win for the Dynamite.
Super 8 opened the tournament Friday afternoon trading pucks with the Kenora Vortex.
The game was a solid performance, with both teams producing great offensive chances, sterling defence, and excellent goaltending in battling to a 2-2 tie.
Game MVP Averi King notched both goals for Super 8, continuing her torrid scoring pace, with Tibbs and Rylee Redford chipping in assists.
Then Friday evening, Super 8 faced off against the explosive Dynamite squad, who blew open a tight game with a pair of late goals to ensure a 3-1 victory.
Game MVP Riley Redford had the lone Super 8 tally.
On Saturday night, Super 8 skated back into action against the hometown Emo Predators. Applying tremendous pressure from the outset, the Fort squad pelted the Emo goalie with numerous shots.
But only two pucks slipped by her as goals from Tibbs and Redford produced a 2-0 victory.
Harleigh Brow-Rose made two lightning quick right pad saves in the third period to preserve the win.
Tibbs earned the game MVP as Super 8 finished the round-robin portion of the tournament in fourth place.
Super 8 coach Stuart McIvor lauded the team’s performance, noting he was extremely pleased with their play.
He also praised blueliners Maddi Bruyere and Sarah Angus, normally forwards, who, along with regular defenders Sarah Jackson and Lindsay Dixon, made a huge contribution on the back line.
