Fort squad tops in Emo

The Emo-Devlin-Barwick Minor Hockey Association held its annual Bantam/Midget tournament at the Emo-La Vallee Arena over the weekend.
A total of 14 teams—seven in each of the Bantam and Midget divisions—competed for the tournament titles.
The Midget field included the Emo Cowboys, Fort Frances Legion, Fort Frances OPP, Fort Frances Minor Hockey, Volunteer Pool Bearcats (Thunder Bay), North End Flames (Thunder Bay), and Westfort Maroons (Thunder Bay).
Teams competing for the Bantam title included the Emo Predators, Canadian Tire (Fort Frances), Kennedy’s K-9’s (Fort Frances), Holmlund’s Leafs (Fort Frances), Wal-Mart (Fort Frances), the Baudette Bears, and Neebing Hawks (Thunder Bay).
The Bantam ‘A’ final featured a battle between two Fort Frances teams, with Canadian Tire earning a hard-fought 2-1 victory over Wal-Mart.
Mike Mainville opened the scoring at 5:06 of the second period to give Canadian Tire a 1-0 lead. Dakota Sisco assisted.
Wal-Mart tied the game at 12:06 of the third period when Andrew Gobeil beat Canadian Tire goalie Jamison Shortreed for an unassisted marker.
But Canadian Tire regained the lead less than a minute later when captain Jeff Cridland scored the go-ahead goal at 11:05.
Bryce Devoe and Andrew Milling were credited with assists on what turned out to be the championship-winning goal.
Meanwhile, the Midget ‘A’ final was an all-Thunder Bay affair as the North End Flames faced off against the Volunteer Pool Bearcats.
After a scoreless first period, the Flames got on the board at the 10:33 mark of the second period when Cory McAllister talllied an unassisted marker.
The Flames made it 2-0 midway through the third when Christopher Manduca took a pass from Cole Anderson and beat Bearcats’ goalie Robert Hay.
The Bearcats clawed their way back into the game just over a minute later courtesy of an unassisted goal by Kyle Cameron, but it would prove to be too little, too late as the Flames held on for the 2-1 victory.
The Neebing Hawks doubled the Holmlund’s Leafs 4-2 to capture the Bantam ‘B’ crown.
Mitchell Steadwell put the Hawks up 1-0 with only 1:07 left in the first period. The Hawks then led 2-0 at 11:52 of the second when Steadwell beat Leafs’ goalie Melissa Payne for his second goal of the game.
Holmlund’s captain Jordon Sinclair responded with a goal of his own just six seconds after the second Steadwell marker to cut the lead to 2-1.
But late goals by Jackson Kohne and Steadwell—his third of the game—gave the Hawks a comfortable 4-1 lead heading into the final period.
Leafs’ winger Brett Bodnarchuk scored at 12:43 of the third to cut into the deficit, but that was as close as Holmlund’s would get.
And in the Midget ‘B’ final, Fort Frances Legion defeated the host Cowboys 3-1 to capture top honours.
Fort Frances teammates Jason Rose and Mike McKay scored late in the opening period to put the Legion up 2-0.
Emo’s Brian Wayash cut the lead to one at 9:06 in the second, assisted by Charlie DeBungee.
The Cowboys looked poised to even the score with roughly five minutes remaining in the period when Legion skaters Jacob McMahon and Ben Klyne were assessed minor penalties, giving Emo a five-on-three advantage for 1:05.
But Fort Frances rose to the challenge and killed the penalties to preserve the one-goal lead heading into the second intermission.
The Legion sealed the title at 7:21 of the third when Klyne scored to give his team an insurmountable 3-1 advantage.