OLIVER PAIPOONGE – The Fort Frances Lakers didn’t know what hit them.
The Superior International Junior Hockey League club rolled into Norwest Arena on Friday night and when all was said and done, the Lakers were on the wrong side of an 8-1 decision at the hands of the Kam River Fighting Walleye.
Kaden Goodwin and Carter Poddubny scored two goals apiece and each added an assist for the Fighting Walleye, who maintained their grasp on second place in the SIJHL standings at 30-12-1, one point ahead of the surging Thunder Bay North Stars.
Sam Sargent, Amar Powar and Daxton Lang, who also had three helpers, scored first-period goals, along with Goodwin, staking the Fighting Walleye to a 4-1 lead.
Lang leads the SIJHL with 71 points, three more than teammate Jett Mintenko and nine more than Thunder Bay’s Tyler Jordan.
Jacob Lamoureux had the Fighting Walleye’s other goal.
Ashton Sadauskas made 28 saves to pick up the win in net for Kam River. Nolan Koethler allowed eight goals on 48 shots for Fort Frances.
The two teams will meet again on Saturday in the Warrior Walleye Indigenous game at Norwest Arena.
Thunder Bay 5, Sioux Lookout 2: The North Stars grabbed a big win on the road against the defending league champions. Beau Helmeczi scored twice for Thunder Bay, with singes going to Evan Simeoni, Peter Forester and Matthew Lysak. Brodie Wood had a goal and an assist for the Bombers.
Red Lake 4, Ironwood 2: Quinn Szpak, Landon van Engelen and Nathan Dann scored third period goals to help the Miners erase a 2-1 Lumberjacks lead after two period of play. Matteo Salvatore scored both Ironwood goals, the tallies coming nine minutes apart in the second.
Dryden 1, Kenora 0: The Ice Dogs earned a forfeit win against the second-year Islanders, who have suspended operations for the season.
