Staff
The Fort Frances Lakers are back into their best-of-seven semi-final series with the Dryden Ice Dogs after earning a 3-2 road win in Game 3 last night.
All the scoring came in the first period, with Cody Hasbargen, Henry Gutierrez, and Byron Katapaytuk tallying for the Lakers.
Luke Kasteel and Ben McClellan countered for the Ice Dogs.
Tyler Ampe only had to make 13 saves to earn the win between the pipes. Meanwhile, Ice Dogs’ goalie Ian Perrier suffered his first loss of this post-season.
The Ice Dogs still lead the series 2-1, with Game 4 going tomorrow night in Dryden.
However, the Lakers’ victory guaranteed there will be a Game 5, which is scheduled for Friday (March 25) at 7:30 p.m. at the Ice For Kids Arena here.
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The news isn’t good for the Muskie boys’ hockey team, who fell to 0-2 in Pool ‘A’ play at the OFSAA ‘AAA/AAAA’ hockey championship in Toronto after dropping a 4-1 decision to the 12th-ranked St. Thomas of Villanova Wildcats (LaSalle) this morning.
Nick Kaun had the lone goal for the black-and-gold.
The Muskies, seeded 13th in the 20-team field, faced the top-ranked St. Mary’s Monarchs (Pickering) this afternoon, then will wrap up pool play tomorrow morning versus 20th-ranked Holy Cross.
Only the top two teams in each pool advance to the quarter-finals.
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The Muskie boys’ curling foursome, skipped by Isaac Keffer, opened round-robin play at the OFSAA playdowns this afternoon against Ridgetown at the Fort William Curling Club in Thunder Bay.
The rink, which also includes Cody Heyens, Ian Grant, Jordan Sokoliuk, and alternate Luke Esselink, play twice tomorrow versus Sir Winston Churchill and London Central (both at the Port Arthur Curling Club), then will wrap up Pool ‘A’ play Friday morning against Malvern back at the Fort William Curling Club.
The top two teams from each pool advance to the quarter-finals.
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Staying in Thunder Bay, the Northwestern Ontario All-Stars, which includes four players from Fort Frances, still are looking for their first win at the provincial ‘AAA’ Bantam championships following a 10-0 loss to the Mississauga Rebels yesterday.
Local goalie Brandon Bodnar got the start in the loss,
The squad, which fell to 0-3, next has a pair of games today against the Hamilton Jr. Bulldogs and the Ottawa Valley Titans, then will wrap up round-robin play Thursday afternoon versus Sault Ste. Marie.
The top four teams advance to the semi-finals on Friday, with the gold-medal game set for Saturday afternoon.
Forwards Brody McPherson and Rory Keith, along with defenceman Carter Brown, are the other local players on the roster.
