Staff
The Fort Frances Lakers suffered a weekend sweep at the hands of the host Thief River Falls Norskies.
A Boe Bjorge power-play goal with just over 1:30 left in regulation time saw the Norskies nab a 3-2 win Saturday night at the Ralph Engelstad Arena for their 12th-straight victory to open the regular season.
The Lakers had opened the scoring near the midway mark of the first period when Jaedin Ness netted a short-handed goal.
Johnny Bennis then tied it just past the seven-minute mark of the second period.
But Ness netted his second of the game shortly thereafter to put the visitors back on top.
The Norskies drew even midway through the third on Jared Pedersen’s sixth of the season.
Then with a lengthy power play late in the game, Bjorge beat Lakers’ goalie Michael Binczyk for the game-winner.
Parker Simonson assisted on both third-period goals.
Shots on goal were 33-28 in favour of the Norskies, with Bailey Schmitz picking up the win.
On Friday night, the Norskies struck for three first-period goals en route to a 5-2 victory.
Simonson’s league-leading 14th goal of the season put the Norskies up 1-0 at 5:48 of the opening frame.
Pederson and Alec Daman added goals to make it 3-0 by the 14-minute mark.
Noah Lovejoy cut the gap with a power-play goal at 3:06 of the second before Bjorge regained the Norskies’ three-goal cushion four-and-a-half minutes later.
The Lakers pulled to within two at 4:29 of the third thanks to Jack Bernie’s third of the season.
But that was as close as they could get, with Connor Bowey rounding out the scoring midway through the third.
Bailey Schmitz made 38 saves to earn the win.
Lakers’ goalie Rob Ivy faced 37 shots in taking the loss.
The Lakers next host the Thunder Bay North Stars this Friday at 7:30 p.m. at the Ice For Kids Arena before visiting the Dryden GM Ice Dogs on Saturday night.
With the losses, the Lakers (5-7-1-1) dropped to fourth place in the SIJHL standings with 12 points.
The North Stars (6-5-2-0) vaulted into third place with 14 points following a pair of weekend wins over the last-place Minnesota Iron Rangers (1-9-0-2).
The Norskies (12-0) continue to lead the pack with 24 points, followed by the Ice Dogs (9-1-2-1) at 21.
The English River Miners (5-7-0-0) occupy fifth place with 10 points.
Editor’s note: The above article was compiled based on information posted on the SIJHL website.
