SIJHL Week 4 In Review
SIJHL Summary Week 4
By: Gary Moskalyk, SIJHL
The 1-5-0 Fort Frances Lakers had the week off as the six remaining teams in the SIJHL battled it out over a four-day span beginning on Wednesday.
Four teams played three games each, Sioux Lookout and Dryden two.
All teams will enjoy a five-day break after this weekend in preparation for the Showcase Event in Superior, WI on October 21 and 22.
Wisconsin 2 @ Thunder Bay 5 Wednesday, October 12
Easton Glousher and Bobby Doukov scored two goals each as the Thunder Bay North Stars defeated the Wisconsin Lumberjacks 5-2 before 250 fans at Fort William Gardens.
Aidan Thomson won his first start in the Thunder Bay net, stopping 39 of 41 shots.
Glousher gave the North Stars an early 1-0 lead. Wisconsin would reply with two quick markers early in the second. Dillon Phillips scored his third of the season at 0:55, and 44 seconds later Salvatore Poggiali notched his sixth. Phillips also collected an assist and Dylan Juoppi assisted on both Wisconsin goals.
Thunder Bay would score the next four goals to secure their second win of the year. Doukov scored his first of the night at 4:04 and Glousher bagged his second of the game on the powerplay to make it 3-2 Stars at the end of two periods.
Doukov would score at 4:51 of the third with powerplay feed from Edison Weeks. Magnus Pearson scored at 12:01 to give the hometown boys a 5-2 decision. Weeks and Dylan Winsor collected two assists each.
William Forrester took the loss in net for the Lumberjacks. Both teams fired 41 shots.
Thunder Bay improved on their impressive powerplay with two goals in five chances.
Only nine minor penalties were assessed.
Red Lake 0 @ Kam River 3 Thursday, October 13.
With all eyes on the fourth regular season meeting of the two top-10 CJHL-ranked SIJHL teams from last year Kam River angled a 3-0 victory at Norwest Arena.
Eric Vanska stopped all 43 shots fired his way for his league-leading fifth win of the year.
After a scoreless first, Euan Morrison and Carson Gorst notched second period goals for a 2-0 lead. Braeden Duchesne added one in the third. Eight different Walleye collected a point.
Both clubs went 0-6 on the powerplay.
Jack Osmond faced 49 shots in the Red Lake net, stopping 46.
Vanska and Osmond share the shutout lead with one each in the early going.
Kam River climbed to 6-1-1 while Kam River fell to .500 at 4-4-1.
Sioux Lookout 3 @ Kam River 4, Sioux Lookout 0 @ Kam River 5, Fri-Sat Oct. 14-15
The Fighting Walleye reeled in their-leading seventh win with a 4-3 decision over the expansion Bombers on Friday. Eric Vanska improved to 6-0-1 with 20-save performance.
Jake Manners evened his log at 2-2-0, facing 37 shots.
Kam River never trailed taking a 2-0 lead after one. Ryan Doucette and Jackson Egner sniped for the Walleye. Connor Burke tallied on an assist from his brother, Blake, midway through the second.
Max Leduc and Holden Woodcroft increased the lead to 4-1 in the third, before the pesky Bombers swooped in at 14:22 and 18:42 to add a little drama to the proceedings. Lucas Trimarchi on the powerplay and Nolan Palmer would tally to make it a one-goal game.
The Walleye protected the lead from there on in.
Egner added an assist for a two-point night for Kam River. Ethan and Daxton Lang added two helpers each for the Walleye.
Blake Burke assisted on all three Bomber goals. Connor Burke had an assist as well.
Sioux Lookout was 1/7 on the PP while Kam River was 0/6 with the man advantage. If Kam River ever solves their powerplay, now sitting at 5.9%, watch out.
A robust crowd of 460 attended the penalty-filled affair at Norwest Arena.
In Saturday’s contest, Jack Orchard handled all 21 shots to collect a shutout for Walleye’s eighth win.
Logan Gallagher scored in the first. Ryan Doucette tallied two in the second. Jeremy Dunmore and Holden Woodcroft rounded out the scoring in the third before 485 fans.
Doucette added a helper for a tidy three points, while Woodcroft had two assists for a three-point evening.
Scott Wrigley and Kevin Bragnalo called 54 minutes of bin time. Kam River went 0-4 on the powerplay, while the Bombers misfired on their six chances.
Odin Church shouldered the loss for Red Lake, stopping 24 of 29 in his first start of the year.
Red Lake 1 @ Thunder Bay 4, Red Lake 1 @ Thunder Bay 2 (SO), Fri-Sat Oct. 14-15
North Star goaltender Conner Lemieux was the star of Friday’s game, stopping all but one of the 40 shots directed his way. His 2.00 goals against average places him among the SIJHL leaders.
Thunder Bay scored a pair of goals late in the first frame to lead by two. Edison Weeks, third in league scoring with 12 points, garnered his sixth of the campaign at 18:15. Dylan Winsor added 44 seconds later.
Noah Broughton made it 3-0 before Aiden Corbett put Red Lake on the board at 13:05.
Red Lake pelted Lemieux with 15 shots in third. With Red Lake’s Jaxson Taupert pulled for an extra attacker and Thunder Bay killing a penalty, Thunder Bay’s Matt Halushak’s long clearing shot split the pipes at 18:16 to put the game away.
Taupert stopped 32 of 35.
The Miners took two minor penalties, while Thunder Bay had seven minors and a misconduct.
Attendance was announced at 432.
In Saturday’s tilt rookie North Star netminder Keenan Marks won his first start as a Junior A goalie, as Thunder Bay won 2-1 in a shootout. Marks came with 1.5 seconds of a shutout but Red Lake’s Aidan Ballance scored his first SIJHL goal to spoil the party, depositing a loose puck in the goal mouth area to send the game into overtime.
Red Lake’s goalie Jaxson Taupert was equally effective in the Miners’ net, stopping 32 of 33 shots including six in 3-on-3 overtime.
Edison Weeks and Nolan Desjardins scored in the shootout while Marks foiled Jacob Lamoureux and Aiden Corbett to preserve the win.
Magnus Pearson scored way back at 9:18 of the first on assists from Desjardins and Noah Broughton.
Eight minor penalties were assessed in a game of skill over brawn. In a rare turn of events, both head coaches, Kevin Walker of Red Lake and Rob DeGagne, were happy with the way it played out.
The Miners were playing their third game in as many nights, while Thunder Bay played their third match in four.
Attendance was 483.
Dryden 3 @ Wisconsin 2 (OT), Dryden 4 @ Wisconsin 3, Fri-Sat Oct. 14-15
The Ice Dogs are snarling their way into a force in the SI. Their 3-2 overtime win on the road was their fourth victory in a row.
Landen Stromme notched his fifth of the season at 3:49 of the five-minute extension to seal the win.
Jordan Pfoh scored early in the first for a 1-0 Dryden lead. Wisconsin Ryan Kayser tied it up in the second.
Ryland Maier scored at 10:00 of the third but Wisconsin’s Zach Johnson answered 51 ticks later. Wisconsin poured it on in the third and the overtime, with 14 and four shots respectively, but Stromme beat Kyler Lowden with Dryden’s only shot in OT.
Eric Clark stopped 28 of 30 for his third win. His GAA is an impressive 2.21.
Kyler Lowden faced 33 Dryden shots, and saw his record drop to 3-2-1.
Dryden and Wisconsin went 0-2 and 0-3 on the powerplay respectively. The Lumberjacks had 31 penalty minutes to Dryden’s 21.
Attendance was pegged at 250.
Make it five consecutive wins for Dryden. The Ice Dogs defeated Wisconsin 4-3 before 315 spectators in Spooner, WI on Saturday.
Bryce Benfield opened up a 2-0 Ice Dog lead in the first frame with two powerplay markers. Five goals were scored in the second–four of them coming in less than three minutes.
James Hooton connected at 4:08 for Dryden. Ryder McMillen made it 3-1 at 5:21. Easton Debray bulged the twine at 6:11 to make it 4-1 and Brandon McDonald shaved the Dryden lead to two at 7:05. Wisconsin’s Zach Carson scored on the powerplay at 15:30–the game’s final goal–with SIJHL leading scorer McMillen picking up his 20th point.
Eric Clark of Dryden picked up win number four on the campaign with a 33-save effort, while Emmett Doherty evened his record at 1-1-0 handling 29 of 33.
Both teams were whistled for 10 infractions each. Dryden was 2-4 while Wisconsin scored once in six powerplay chances.
Attendance was 315.