Lakers lose series 4-3
Mike Dietrich’s second goal of the game during a two-man advantage with 11:36 remaining turned out to be the difference Wednesday when the Wisconsin Wilderness edged the Fort Frances Lakers, 4-3, in the seventh and deciding game of the Superior International Junior Hockey League’s Bill Salonen Cup championship final at the Northwest Sports Complex in Spooner, Wis.
The Wilderness rallied from a 3-1 series deficit to not only capture the SIJHL crown, but also advance to the Dudley-Hewitt Cup Central Canadian Jr. A championship, which gets underway Tuesday in Thunder Bay.
Wisconsin scored first when Dietrich scooped up a loose puck in the slot and darted to his right where he unloaded a shot past Fort Frances goalie Tyler Ampe at 12:19 of the opening period.
Nick Drill extended the Wilderness lead to 2-0 at 5:48 of the second period when he went down the left side and fired the puck past Ampe.
Drill struck again at 15:17, just moments after leaving the penalty box, where he sprung free and placed the puck through Ampe’s legs to put Wisconsin up, 3-0.
The Lakers got on the scoreboard in the final moments of the second period when Henry Gutierrez fired a shot past Wilderness goalie Tanner Milliron.
SIJHL Pizza Hut player of the year Byron Katapaytuk then pulled the Lakers to within one at 3:11 of the third period when he fired a back-handed shot over Milliron’s shoulder.
With two Lakers in the penalty box, Wisconsin went back up by two when Dietrich finished off a three-way passing play with Zach Blaisdell and Anthony Calabrese that gave him a tap-in shot into a wide-open net.
Jordan Christianson, a 2010 Falls High School graduate, scored the Lakers’ final goal with an extra-attacker on the ice with 1:10 remaining when Ampe vacated the Fort Frances goal.
The Wilderness then ran out the clock to capture their second consecutive SIJHL championship.
While being outscored by a goal, Fort Frances ended up outshooting Wisconsin, 38-30.
