Lakers pull in front of Wilderness

For 42:23 seconds, everything looked A-OK for the Fort Frances Lakers Wednesday night.

But never count the Wisconsin Wilderness down.

Trailing 5-1 when Adam Wensley banged home his second of the night for the Lakers in the first three minutes of the third period, the Wilderness stormed almost all the way back in the third, and trailed 6-5 when SIJHL defenceman-of-the-year Anthony Calabrese banged the puck past Fort Frances goalie Tyler Ampe at the 15:22 mark of the final frame.

But try as they might, the visiting Wilderness couldn't get the equalizer, and with 10 seconds to play Byron Katapaytak iced the 7-5 Fort Frances victory, piling the puck into the empty net to give the Lakers a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven Bill Salonen Cup final.

Jaret Leclair and Jordan Christianson staked the Lakers to a 2-01 lead in the first before Andrew Anderson cut the lead in half with 1:50 to play in the period.

Wensley and Katapaytak, the SIJHL MVP, notched the only goals of the second for a 4-2 Fort Frances advantage.

Wensley and Shane Topf traded goals to start the third, with Jordan Larson restoring the four-goal Lakers lead at 5:40.
Patrick Hurley and Jeremy Johnson netted the other Wisconsin goals.

Game 4 is scheduled for Thursday night in Fort Frances.

The winner of the series advances to the Dudley Hewitt Cup later this month at Fort William Gardens, joining the host Thunder Bay North Stars, who get an automatic berth.

In other Dudley Hewitt news, the Soo Thunderbirds lead he Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League final 2-0, while Whitby and Stouffville start their best-of-seven Ontario Junior Hockey League final on Thursday in Stouffville.

Elsewhere in the SIJHL, the Sioux Lookout Flyers are on the hunt for a new GM and coach. The team on Wednesday announced the option on the contract of Brad Zangs will not be picked up for 2012-13. The Flyers finished fifth  at 25-29-2 and were bounced from the playoffs in five games by Dryden.