Staff
The Fort Frances Thunderhawks seem to bristle at the thought of the Thistles.
The local senior men’s squad lost both games to visiting Kenora this past weekend, falling 5-1 at the Ice For Kids Arena here Saturday before suffering a a 7-3 thumping in a Sunday afternoon matinee in Emo.
Sunday’s game got off to a raucous start, with each team tallying in the first minute.
Kenora’s Brooks Mejia beat Thunderhawk goalie Wade Friesen just 29 seconds after the opening face-off. But Fort Frances responded a mere 17 seconds later when Taylor Jorgensen put one past Thistles’ netminder Tyler Gordon.
Kenora stormed back, taking a 3-1 lead when Sean Hughes tallied twice in a span of 2:44 midway through the period.
The visitors extended their lead midway through the second when Jason Kelly’s tip fluttered over Friesen and into the open cage.
The Thistles’ advantage then ballooned to four when Brian Kranyk was able to corral his own rebound sitting in the slot and snap one over top of Friesen at 16:02.
Kenora’s sixth goal came courtesy of Mejia, who was able to snap one in at 17:52.
Mejia’s tally chased Friesen, who was replaced by Chris Medicine.
Fort Frances responded late in the period when defender Kris Esselink wired a bullet past Gordon to trail 6-2 after the second.
In the third, the T’hawks inched closer at 10:59 when Dennis Morrison snapped a shot Gordon just couldn’t squeeze and dropped behind the goal line.
But that was as close as they would get as the Thistles iced the game when James Cain took a perfect pass from Mejia and tapped the puck past Medicine.
Cain would continue to badger the T’hawks—resulting in a last-minute fight with Jermaine Atatise, who scored the takedown.
The goal scorers from Saturday’s game were not available by press time.
