Wilderness, Ice Dogs open with wins

The Wisconsin Wilderness looked like they chose wisely when picking their second-round opponent.

The Wilderness, who won a mini-series against second-place Fort Frances and earned the right to choose who they’d play in the Superior International Junior Hockey League semifinal, got goals from five different players on Friday night and downed the Thunder Bay North Stars 5-2.

The win gave the host Wilderness a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven series.

Wisconsin blazed out to a 3-0 lead after two, getting goals from Tom Paine, Dalton Betzen and Keith Tessin.

Quinn Rempel got the North Stars on the board at 7:15 of the third, but Thunder Bay native Austin Adduono pushed the Wisconsin lead back to three, scoring at 9:29,

Andrew Anderson extended the lead with 1:38 to go in regulation, with Mitch Forbes tallying at the 19:59 mark to wrap up the scoring.

In the other semifinal opener, Ian Perrier made 22 saves to lead the Dryden Ice Dogs to a 4-0 lead over Fort Frances.

Len Pelletier scored a pair for the Dogs, with singles going to Alex Galbraith and Dwight Lee.

The North Stars and Wilderness play Game 2 of their set on Saturday night, the Ice Dogs and Lakers hooking up on Sunday.