Staff
If there ever was any doubt about the high calibre of PeeWee girls’ hockey in Fort Frances, it surely was put to rest Sunday afternoon as a pair of local teams stepped up to stage a memorable showdown at the Ice for Kids arena in the tournament final.
After winning nine games and tying one between them, Fort Frances Super 8 and Kitowski Trucking took to the ice intent on claiming the championship of the eight-team tournament.
With a crowd estimated at close to 200 roaring support for both teams, Super 8 captain Madisyn DeGagne jumped on an early loose puck and raced up ice, splitting the Kitowski defenders and firing home a wrist shot just 19 seconds into the game.
DeGagne’s marker did not set the stage for a first-period scoring barrage, however.
Kitowski centre Sarah Milling eventually evened the score with 2:22 left in the first period to send the two teams to the break deadlocked at 1-1.
The rugged play continued in the second period as the intensity climbed another notch. Wave after wave of offensive attacks were snuffed out by total team defence at both ends of the rink.
Truckers’ goalie Calie Clendenning and Super 8 netminder Shanleigh Fryer were brilliant—making acrobatic stops on any shots directed their way.
With just 1:25 to go in the second period, Kitowski defender Amy Penner stepped up and whipped home the go-ahead goal for a 2-1 lead at the second intermission.
What transpired in the third period was a testimony to the incredible desire and passion both teams brought to this championship final.
With just over nine minutes left in regulation time, Super 8 forward Katie Sinclair took a feed from Danielle Jackson, moved in on the right side, and unleashed a wicked wrist shot to knot the score at 2-2.
Not to be outdone, Milling, assisted by Angel McCormack, popped the Truckers’ third goal with 7:30 remaining.
The third-period frenzy continued as Clendenning and Fryer made goalmouth larceny a common occurence with both clubs playing at a breathtaking pace.
With time winding down and a player in the penalty box, Super 8 coaches Larry Beck and Lorne Jackson summoned Fryer to the bench and sent out the extra attacker.
The move paid almost instant dividends as the quick-thinking Sinclair sent DeGagne deep into the Kitowski zone and she fired a low seeing-eye wrist shot just inside the far post and past Clendenning to even the score at 3-3 and send the contest to overtime.
The tension was palpable as both squads took a break before embarking on the final leg of this historic battle. The sudden death overtime began with a three-minute 3-on-3 segment as the teams banged and crashed all over the ice—fearful of giving up the win yet desperate to secure it!
The 2-on-2 segment featured more of the same as both teams employed a full complement of players, switching often to get fresh legs on the ice.
The goaltending was simply stunning at both ends.
Finally after three regulation periods and two overtimes, the stage was set for a one-on-one battle to determine the victor.
With more butterflies in the building than on any sunny day in July, one courageous player after another stepped through the gate to battle for the puck and the opportunity to score the game-winner. And so it was that Kitowski defender Amy Penner gathered up the rubber biscuit deep in her own zone and made a mad dash towards the Super 8 goal.
Making a brilliant move, she fired a short side shot that Fryer turned away. She grabbed the rebound and tried the wrap around—but again Fryer slammed the door.
Another shot and another save before finally the puck was poked home and the Kitowski bench and cheering section erupted in celebration as they had laid claim to the 2009 tourney crown.
Kitowski coach Stuart McIvor and Super 8 mentor Larry Beck noted that both teams “had left every ounce of effort on the ice.”
“Our players brought a physical style of play that we hadn’t seen all year, and it showed the quality of their character, that they were able to step up and find that level of play when they needed it the most,” McIvor added.
To reach the final, the Truckers had swept through the earlier portion of the tournament with four wins and a tie.
Opening play Friday afternoon, the Truckers battled to a 2-2 with the Dryden Herricanes. McCormack (in the first period) and Penner (in the third) lit the lamp for Kitowski.
The Truckers then served up a handful of goals in a supper hour date with the International Falls’ 12U squad.
Claire Sandelovich in the first, Sarah Milling and Amy Penner in the second, and Sandelovich in the third did the damage in a 4-1 win.
Kitowski’s 9 a.m. opponent on Saturday was the Thunder Bay Petrie Stars. The Truckers exhausted the Stars as Milling registered a pair of goals, McCormack and Cassandra Moffitt added singles, and Sandelovich chipped in with a pair of assists in another 4-1 victory.
That earned the Truckers an afternoon game with Dryden Petro Canada.
The Dryden squad had lots of gas in the tank and road a hot goalie deep into a scoreless third period. Finally, with just 1:24 to go, Moffitt set up Penner and the wily defender banked a shot in off of the Dryden netminder’s shoulder to secure a dramatic 1-0 win and move Kitowski into an ‘A’-side semi-final appearance against the Dryden PT Cruisers late Saturday night.
Kitowski jumped out to the early lead on first-period goals by Penner and Brittany Hyatt. But the Cruisers answered back with three-straight goals to take a 3-2 lead into the third.
The Truckers, however, then lit the lamp four times in a row as McCormack, Milling, Hyatt (her second of the game), and Sandelovich iced a 6-3 win and a date with Super 8 in Sunday’s final.
Super 8, as they have been all season, were a force to be reckoned with all weekend long. Opening play Friday morning, Super 8 tangled with a feisty Dryden Petro Canada crew.
Amber Jourdain, set up by Taylor DeGagne and Danielle Jackson, earned the home side a 1-1 tie after the first period. But as the game progressed, it was all Super 8 as Katie Sinclair scored a pair in the second and Jourdain blasted home her second goal of the game in the third period to ice a 4-1 victory.
Next up it was a battle of local squads as Lakewood Tire, headed up by John Hazel and Dave Taggart, provided the opposition.
The friendly rivals grappled for the win, with Shilo Beck and Jourdain sniping a pair each, and Taylor DeGagne, Maddy DeGagne, and Katie Sinclair notching singles, in the Super 8 victory.
On Saturday morning, Super 8 sent the Dryden PT Cruisers down the road, dispatching them 4-0.
Taylor DeGagne and Beck held the hot hand, each scoring one and assisting on two others, while Sinclair and Maddy Degagne chipped in singles.
Next up was a cross-border match-up with the International Falls’ 12U girls. Jourdain opened the scoring just over four minutes into the first period—and that goal held up as the winner as Fryer earned the shutout in a 1-0 win.
That victory propelled Super 8 into an ‘A’-side semi-final tilt with the Dryden Herricanes.
The Herricanes bolted from the gate, grabbing a two-goal lead after the first period. Super 8 got on the board early in the second as Jourdain snapped home an unassisted tally, but the Herricanes blew one by Fryer to build a 3-1 lead early in the third period.
Not to be denied, the Super 8 juggernaut got rolling and pelted the Dryden netminder with shots in the third period.
When the dust settled, Super 8 had buried four more goals as Maddy DeGagne, Jourdain, Hailey Beaudry, and Sinclair polished off the 5-3 victory and a berth in the championship finale against Kitowski Trucking.
For the Lakewood Tire Eagles, the weekend story was of a great effort unrewarded by goals. The Eagles played with unbridled enthusiasm all weekend long, but often the bounces and the outcomes did not go their way.
The Eagles opened play Friday at noon when they tangled with the Dryden PT Cruisers. The Cruisers struck first, but the Eagles grabbed the game thereafter, scoring four unanswered goals in a 4-1 win.
Jessica Coran (with a pair), Taylor Hazel, and Lena Morelli led the way, with Morelli, Hazel, and Mal Payne also adding assists.
After a Friday afternoon tilt with Super 8, the Eagles next landed Saturday morning as they hosted Dryden Petro Canada. Despite a dangerous attack, Lakewood was shut out as Petro Canada grabbed a 2-0 victory.
The goal drought continued in their next game with the Herricanes. Despite intense pressure, the Eagles failed to capitalize on their chances while Olivia Carter of the ’Canes put two past Kate Parsons for a 2-0 Dryden win.
Undaunted, the Eagles traded shots with the Falls’ 12U girls in a late Saturday afternoon game, where a victory would propel them into an ‘B’-side championship.
Lakewood struck first as Shelby Holden scored unassisted with 1:54 left in the opening period.
The Falls evened the score in the second period, but Hazel whipped home another unassisted goal to give the Eagles a 2-1 lead with under nine minutes to go.
Moments later, however, Falls’ forward Hailey Fentum tied the game at 2-2—a score that remained into the second overtime.
With just four ticks left in the second extra session, Marissa Meyer netted the winner as International Falls upended Lakewood 3-2.
With an opportunity to advance to the ‘C’ final, Lakewood took the ice at 7:45 a.m. on Sunday against the Thunder Bay Petrie’s Stars.
In a low-scoring affair, the Stars scored first before the Eagles’ Meagan Allan tied the score off of a nice set-up by Mallory Payne.
With 23 seconds left in the first, Petrie’s grabbed a 2-1 lead—and that advantage held up as the Stars advanced to the ‘C’ while the Eagles were bounced from further contention.
The ‘C’ final pitted the Stars against the Dryden Herricanes, with the Dryden squad taking home the crown with a 3-0 victory.
The ‘B’ side final had International Falls and Dryden Petro Can locked in a tight-checking battle for three periods, with the Falls taking home the hardware with a goal in the first overtime.
