It came down to the wire. A one goal lead and a late penalty against, but a good penalty kill and a timely icing against the Dryden Eagles helped the Muskies pull out the win.
Muskies head coach Nicole Clarke said the team left everything they had on the ice and played with heart.
“The girls put out a 100 per cent effort,” Clarke said on the ice after celebrating with her players. “They played with their hearts and left everything out here and they deserve the gold medal.”
The game was tight and Dryden goalie Sydney Cloutier stymied the Muskies time and time again until they finally broke through on the power play around the 15 minute mark of the first period on a goal by Piper Miller knocked in after a point shot from Katherine Fischer.
Dryden wasted little time in replying, scoring just a minute later.
The Muskies got another goal courtesy of Hailey Bombay, again assisted by Fischer before the end of the period and headed into the first intermission up 2-1.
Early in the second the Muskies pounced on a Dryden misplay and team captain Tatum Glowasky scored shorthanded with the assist going to Kianna Antonick.
Dryden scored a shorthanded goal of their own with just over a minute left in the frame to bring the game to 3-2 before the second intermission.
The third period was hard fought with both teams trading chances but goaltenders Cloutier and the Muskie’s Jersey Masson made some amazing saves. At one point the Muskies thought they had gone up by two but the goal was disallowed when officials said the puck went in because of a kicking motion.
When Keira Fairnington was called for body checking with less than two minutes to go in the game the Muskies took a time out.
Glowasky had some nerves, but had little doubt the team could kill the penalty.
“I was a little bit nervous,” She said. “The main thing we practice is power play and penalty kill, and our [penalty kill] is pretty stable and I believe in our girls when we’re on that, so I wasn’t too nervous.
“I said ‘you get that puck on your stick and it goes to the other end of the ice,’” Clarke said. “And that’s what they did.”
The Muskies had a few shots on Dryden’s empty net as they pulled their goalie to play six on four. The Muskies couldn’t pot the empty netter but a Dryden icing with just a few seconds to go relieved some pressure and the Muskies held Dryden at bay until the final buzzer.
After the trophy presentation Glowasky who is also a senior this year said she was proud of her teammates.
“It feels pretty amazing,” Glowasky said. “The girls have worked very hard for this all year and the outcome was amazing. I’m very proud of the girls, and especially with this being my last game of my senior year, so it feels pretty great.”
