THIEF RIVER FALLS, Minn. – The surging Thief River Falls Norskies struck for three first period goals and never looked back as they went on to win their 11th Superior International Junior Hockey League game in a row Friday as they defeated the visiting Fort Frances Lakers 5-2 in front of 654 fans at Ralph Engelstad Arena.
Parker Simonson’s SIJHL-leading 14th goal of the season put the Norskies in front at 5:48 of the opening frame.
Jared Pederson upped the home side’s lead midway through the session while teammate Alec Daman made it 3-0 near the 14-minute mark.
Action in the middle stanza saw each side connect once as Noah Lovejoy connected on a Fort Frances power play chance at 3:06 before Boe Bjorge got that back for the Norskies four and a half minutes later.
Moving on to the third, the Lakers pulled to within two at 4:29 thanks to Jack Bernie’s third of the campaign, but Connor Bowey helped secure win No. 11 in succession for the CJHL top-ranked Norskies midway through the session to round out the night’s scoring.
Logan Jackson and Cory Aarvig had two assists each in the Thief River Falls triumph.
Bailey Schmitz turned in a solid 38-save performance to earn the victory for the Norskies.
Fort Frances netminder Rob Ivy meanwhile saw 37 shots fired his way in a losing cause for the Lakers.
Photo credit: Allison Garrigan