THIEF RIVER FALLS, Minn. – A Noah Loveday goal broke open a third period tie as the Fort Frances Lakers went on to defeat the Thief River Falls Norskies 6-4 Wednesday in Superior International Junior Hockey League play at Ralph Engelstad Arena.
Sporting Military Appreciation Night jerseys, Thief River Falls opened the scoring a couple of minutes into the contest as Joe Collins snapped one high past Fort Frances starter Dylan Kosik.
A lucky bounce helped the Laker draw level 40 seconds later when Nick Hahkala banked an attempt from behind the net off a Norskies defender and in.
Tyler Malpass then converted on a man advantage chance moments later as he banged one in from close range.
Right after that, the home side tied it again off the stick of Isaac Baron.
Action in the middle session saw Flynn Perry and Matthew Dyck both connect to put the visitors up by two before Baron’s second of the night brought the Norskies back to within one as he clicked on the power play at 15:10.
Gavin Miller then knotted the proceedings just past the five-minute mark of the third, only to see Loveday strike 22 seconds later in what proved to be the game-winner.
Malpass then added some insurance with under nine minutes remaining as he capitalized while Fort Frances was up a skater.
The Norskies did hold the edge in shots 33-26 with Kosik getting the win while Joshua Seeley suffered his first loss after four straights victories to begin his tenure in the SIJHL.
Photo credit: Tim Benton