Lucas Punkari
With an afternoon showdown today against the Red Lake Rams, then a trip there this Friday night, coming on the heels of a game here last night against the Dryden Eagles, the Muskie girls’ hockey team is coming to the end of the NorWOSSA regular season.
But that is when the real battle will begin.
While the date has yet to be determined, the Muskies will face the St. Thomas Aquinas Saints (Kenora) in a single winner-take-all game to determine who will advance to the NorWOSSA semi-finals versus the Dryden Eagles.
With that game looming on the horizon, Muskie head coach Scott Clendenning has been making a point to his team to have strong outings in their last two games with the Rams before the playoffs start.
“I’ve been stressing to the girls that even though the playoffs are coming, every game is important,” Clendenning noted.
“We need to take our opponents very seriously here this week, and we need to continue to progress as a team, and that will be key when we get into the post-season.”
Last Tuesday, the squad had a strong effort in a contest with the Kenora Broncos at the Ice For Kids Arena, but still came out on the losing end of a 4-1 decision.
“The first period was a great period as we were able to keep some of their players contained,” Clendenning recalled.
“But after that, they were able to take advantage of their chances.
“We have got to do a better job of that if we want to have a chance on being on the winning end of those type of games,” he stressed.
“They [Kenora] are a strong team that we need to be playing our best hockey against in order to win against them.”
The black-and-gold rebounded Friday night in Kenora, where they topped the Saints in a wild 8-5 affair.
“It was just one of those games,” Clendenning said. “Things got a little bit out of hand as their goalie took a match penalty, and it just kind of got ugly.
“It wasn’t a great win but it’s still a win,” he reasoned.
Clendenning also was pleased to see the offensive outburst from his team, which saw Shelby Tymkin lead the way with a pair of goals and an assist.
“Offensively, there were a lot of great moments, and scoring eight goals in a game will do a lot for the team’s confidence,” he noted.
“Shelby was on her game and she was moving her feet, and along with her, Ericka Tymkin, Amy Penner, and Taylor Dixon also had strong games for us,” Clendenning lauded.
Dixon scored a pair of goals in Friday’s victory while Penner, Katie Sinclair, Ericka Tymkin, and Shelby Rea added singles.
