Dan Falloon
The Muskie girls’ hockey team finished fourth at an eight-team tournament in Portage la Prairie, Man. over the weekend.
“I think we should have did a little better,” Muskie coach Mel Langtry admitted.
“We’re still having trouble scoring, putting the puck in the net a little bit,” he noted.
The black-and-gold opened the tournament well, blanking St. Thomas Aquinas (Kenora) 2-0 on Friday morning, outshooting them 35-18 in the process.
Jillian Langtry and Taylor Dixon scored for Fort High while Dana Cridland earned the shutout.
The Muskies then improved to 2-0 with a 3-2 shootout win over the Altona Miller Aces.
Carlee Bosma scored early, but the Miller Aces stormed back with a pair.
Jillian Langtry then knotted the game with just over two minutes to go in the third to force the shootout.
Melissa Payne stymied all five Altona shooters while Jessie Baker netted the only goal the Muskies needed.
Fort High couldn’t recapture the magic of that win in their next game, however, suffering a 3-0 whitewashing at the hands of the Sanford Sabres.
It was the first time the black-and-gold had been blanked this season.
“They had this one girl we couldn’t really control too much,” noted Mel Langtry.
The Muskies lost despite outshooting the Sabres 33-30.
With the loss, Fort High claimed second in their pool and was off to face the Kenora Broncos for the bronze medal.
Danielle Jean scored early to give the Muskies the 1-0 lead. After Kenora tied it, Ericka Tymkin again put the Fort ahead.
But the game unravelled for Fort High in the second period as they allowed three goals in less than two minutes to fall behind 4-2.
The Broncos added another marker in the third to seal the 5-2 victory.
“That was a bad game all around for us,” said Mel Langtry. “It was not a good effort, and we’re a lot better than that showing.”
The Muskies will be back in NorWOSSA action tomorrow (Dec. 18) when they face Red Lake at 7:30 p.m. at the ’52 Canadians Arena.
In injury news, defender Anikka McTavish suffered a sprained ankle during the Portage tournament and is expected to be out until the team’s annual alumni game scheduled for Dec. 27.
In the meantime, the Muskies have added Nicole Beadle to their roster.
Forward Alyssa Penner (broken wrist) is expected to be out until mid-January.
