Jamie Mountain
It was a devilishly good performance to cap the weekend.
Harmony Yerxa scored all three goals as the Fort Frances Ice Devils skated to a 3-1 win over the Fort Frances Heat in Sunday’s final of the Fort Frances Girls’/Women’s Hockey Association’s Novice division tournament at the Ice For Kids Arena.
The Heat struck first as Hannah Pope opened the scoring unassisted with 8:26 left in the first period.
Yerxa then knotted it at 1-1 just 50 seconds later with an unassisted effort of her own.
The Ice Devils took the lead 2-1 just 40 seconds into the final frame off the stick of Yerxa.
Makayla Gibbs drew the lone assist on the play.
Yerxa then completed the hat trick when she fired one home with 1:52 to go to cap the scoring and nab the tourney title.
Kinsley McCoy earned the win between the pipes.
The Ice Devils opened play Friday with a 3-2 loss to the Dryden Huskies.
Yerxa also provided all of the squad’s offence in that one, scoring a pair of unassisted goals.
But the squad rebounded later in the day with a 5-0 shutout over the Kenora Avalanche.
Yerxa and Gibbs led the way with a pair of goals each while Aelise Lucas-Engberg netted the other one.
Then on Saturday, the Ice Devils earned a narrow 5-4 victory over the Emo Express on goals by Yerxa (two), Lucas-Engberg, Gibbs, and Ava Burns.
Mya Lepage and Sienna Tom both scored twice for Emo.
The Ice Devils and Heat also faced each other on Saturday, with the former coming out on top by a 5-3 margin.
Yerxa netted a hat trick, with Gibbs and Lucas-Engberg adding singles, while Sayler Easton scored all three of the Heat’s goals.
The Heat had opened the tourney with a 3-2 win over the Dryden Huskies.
Easton (two) and Nika Kasper provided the Heat’s offence.
Then they cruised to an 8-1 romp over the Emo Express.
Pope scored four times in that one while Maelle and Easton both tallied twice in the onslaught.
Then on Saturday, the Heat downed the Kenora Avalanche 4-1, with Pope (two), Kasper, and Easton getting the goals.
On the Atom side, meanwhile, the Fort Frances Black Knights settled for bronze after losing 5-1 to the Kenora Warriors in Sunday’s semi-final.
Kallie Boshey notched the Black Knight’s lone goal in the first period.
The Kenora IceHawks claimed the Atom title with a 2-0 shutout of the Warriors in the final.
The Black Knights opened the tournament with a 4-0 shutout of the Dryden Rampage.
Khloe Morrison and Emma Wilson tallied while the other two goal scorers weren’t identified.
Then they were blanked 2-0 by the Kenora IceHawks, but rebounded with a 3-1 triumph over the Lorette Comets.
Ashlee Homer notched a pair of goals in that one while Logan McPherson added the other one.
The FFGWHA next will host its annual PeeWee and Bantam tournaments this Friday through Sunday at the Memorial Sports Centre.
