Braeden Duchesne celebrates his 2nd goal of the 2023 SIJHL playoffs, which gave the Kam River Fighting Walleye a 4-2 win over the Wisconsin Lumberjacks. Twitter: @KamRiverWalleye
The Kam River Fighting Walleye mean came out strong but, tempered themselves following Saturday’s blowout against the Wisconsin Lumberjacks, during Game 2 of the SIJHL semifinals at the Norwest Arena.
Ethan Lang opened up scoring in the first, hooking teammates Isiah Kinnavanthong and Josh Morton up with an assist in the process.
Almost a full period later Wisconsin’s Ryder McMillen returned the favour sending the puck past Eric Vanska, tying it up at one apiece.
However, that tie was short lived as Jack Cook blew past the defence and found the back of the net, unassisted a minute later, then doubled down two and a half minutes later, this time giving Lang an assist.
The second period also saw quite a few penalties dished out including seeing the Walleye’s Brydon Bell rack up six minutes in the penalty box, first for spearing at the beginning of the period and holding near the end, meanwhile Wisconsin’s Connor McClure picked up a game misconduct for match-spearing, just before Cook’s unassisted goal.
A valiant effort was made by the Lumberjack’s Salvatore Poggiali, who assisted McMillen earlier in the game, when he found the back of the net early in the 3rd, but a response from Braeden Duchesne sealed the deal, final score 4-2.
The Walleye are now up by two in the series, they will now travel down to Spooner Wisconsin for Game 3 on Wednesday.
Meanwhile the Dryden Ice Dogs make their way down to the Fort William Gardens Tuesday for Game 3 against the Thunder Bay Northstars, who are tied at one game apiece.
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