With the end of the first half of their season in sight, the Muskie girls’ hockey team stayed strong by winning two exhibition match-ups against Minnesota teams over the weekend.
The squad first iced the Babbitt Knights 5-2 here Friday night before earning a 3-1 victory against the Golden Bears on Saturday afternoon in Eveleth.
Already suffering from the injury bug, the Muskies lost leading scorer Lauren Krukoski, among others, on Friday night and ended Saturday’s game with just eight skaters.
But even with a minimal roster, the black-and-gold still found a way to win both games.
“That’s one thing, the character of this team is pretty good,” Muskie head coach Lynn Kellar said. “Nothing seems to bother them.”
The Muskies roared out of the gate against Babbitt, outplaying the visiting Knights throughout the first period but catching a few bad bounces.
For instance, Babbitt banked in a goal off a post and then lucked out when a puck bounced off goalie Sara Trendiak’s shoulder and into the net, jumping out to a 2-0 lead to end the first.
Fort High looked rattled by the end of the period—unsure how they could be two goals down to a toothless Babbitt team that looked their lesser on the ice.
They regained their confidence by the start of the second and scored four goals in the period—turning a two-goal deficit into a two-goal lead.
“Everyone was a little bit down, but we knew we could come back. Just kept our chins up,” said Muskie captain Lauren Pierce. “I think maybe we just weren’t expecting them to be that good.”
Trailing 2-1, the turning point for the Muskies came when Babbitt forward Hanna Lashmett was assessed a roughing penalty and then pushed Muskie left-winger Nicole Beadle on her way to the box.
Lashmett was tagged for an additional two minutes for unsportsmanlike conduct and the Muskies pounced—scoring once on the power play and twice more within 30 seconds shortly after the second penalty expired, including a goal by Beadle herself.
“The second, third period, the kids really stepped up, shot the puck, and got the goals to show for it,” Kellar noted. “One thing we noticed with the girls, once they get the first goal they seem to relax. . . .
“The girls knew they were doing the right things, just a couple of bad goals, one off the post and one off Trendiak and in,” he added.
Less than a day later and a significant bus ride away, the black-and-gold beat the Eveleth-Gilbert Golden Bears 3-1.
The Muskies again fought from a deficit, trailing Eveleth 1-0 until Lindsey Roehrig tied the score a minute into the second period.
A pair of goals by Kristen Penner in the third sealed the win.
Penner led all scorers over the two games with three goals and a pair of assists. Trendiak was between the pipes for both wins.
The Muskies returned to NorWOSSA play last night against the Dryden Eagles (the outcome wasn’t available prior to press time), then will host the International Falls Broncos in exhibition action this Friday at 5:15 p.m.
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
