Muskie rinks advance to NWOSSAA

Both the Muskie girls’ and boys’ curling rinks faced a simple scenario going into the final draw of the NorWOSSA curling championships here yesterday—win and advance to NWOSSAA, or lose and pack away the brooms for the season.
First to the girls.
Skipped by Amy Nielson, the team, which included third Jenna Enge, second Kate Bondett, and lead Courtney Beadle, went into action yesterday morning with a 2-0 record after having beaten Sioux Lookout (11-3) and Dryden (8-1) on Monday.
But the Muskies stumbled in their first game against Red Lake, losing 7-6 to the Rams despite leading 6-4 heading into the eighth and final end.
Instead of sitting in the driver’s seat at 3-0, giving up that three-ender at the last suddenly meant they faced a must-win situation against the Kenora Broncos in the afternoon draw.
“I think we were a little too confident almost and we weren’t on our game this morning at all,” said Nielson.
“I thought our first game today against Red Lake was well within our reach to win, but that’s the way curling goes,” noted coach Dave Bondett.
And things didn’t look too good early on against the Broncos, who shared a 2-1 record with the Muskies, in a game that would decide the second berth to NWOSSAA behind unbeaten Red Lake.
But with the game tied 4-4, the Muskies garnered a four-ender in the fifth end en route to a 9-5 victory and a trip to Nipigon on March 7-8.
“We needed that [fifth end]. We needed a jump on them to bounce back from this morning’s loss,” Nielson said. “If we didn’t get that, who knows what would’ve happened?”
Luckily for them, that question will remain unanswered.
This will mark the third trip to NWOSSAA for this current Muskie girls’ rink (they’ve been together for four years), and will head to Nipigon with valuable lessons learned from the NorWOSSA playdowns planted firmly in their minds.
“You have to treat every team the same whether you think they’re good or bad,” said Nielson, who is graduating this year along with Beadle.
“You have to play them with the same strategy, and go in with your normal game and not think you can beat them just by showing up,” she stressed.
“This is our last year together. We want to give it our best, and we’re going to try our hardest at NWOSSAA,” Nielson vowed.
Now to the boys.
The Muskies, featuring skip David Kaun, third Mike Badiuk, second Lucas Keffer, lead Mike McKay, and spare Mike Sande, entered yesterday afternoon’s final draw against Red Lake tied with the Rams at 3-1 in the hunt for the second berth to NWOSSAA (Kenora already had locked up one berth with a 4-1 record).
But the boys had an answer for every Red Lake question en route to a 7-1 win.
“It was a lot of pressure, but it was still fun,” said Kaun, who noted he got some words of advice from Adam Bolen, who skipped the team when the Muskies went to the all-Ontarios four years ago.
“It was hard, and I was worried most of the time,” he admitted. “The first day I was worried and then I talked to my old skip and he psyched me up and then we did really well.
“He said not to get down on myself, that if I miss a shot then don’t worry, because it was just practice and make your second one,” added Kaun.
That advice was echoed by their coach, Tom Fry, who was visibly anxious looking down from the viewing gallery.
“Basically, I just told them to stay within themselves, to play their game and stay calm in the crucial situations, and ask for help if they needed it,” said Fry.
“And they did a wonderful job today [Tuesday].”
With both the Muskies and Kenora having qualified for NWOSSAA with 4-1 records, a playoff was held yesterday evening to determine who would take home the NorWOSSA gold medal.
Despite building up a 4-0 lead after four ends, the Muskies lost 9-4 to settle for the silver.
The team began play Monday with a 7-4 win over Dryden (7-4), but followed that with a 5-1 loss to Kenora.
But they recovered with wins over Rainy River (6-5) and Sioux Lookout (6-4) to set up their showdown with Red Lake.
Though NWOSSAA is less than two weeks ago, Kaun said he will take some time to enjoy the moment, then start thinking about Nipigon.
“I’m not thinking about NWOSSAA quite yet, I’m still focused on what just happened,” a relieved Kaun said with a smile.
In the mixed division, Atikokan won NorWOSSA gold after going undefeated (5-0) while Rainy River (4-1) took the silver (Fort High did not field a team).
There is no NWOSSAA playoff for the mixed division.