Lucas Punkari
If the final of the eighth-annual Muskie girls’ hockey tournament is any indication, the 2012-13 NorWOSSA season will be an exciting and competitive affair.
In their second-straight meeting in a tournament final in as many weekends, the Kenora Broncos edged the host Muskies 3-2 on Sunday afternoon at the Ice For Kids Arena, giving them a measure of revenge after the black-and-gold captured the Sturgeon Heights tournament over their league rivals in overtime the previous week in Winnipeg.
“It was a good game between both teams,” said Muskie coach Scott Clendenning.
“There was some excellent hockey between the two clubs, and Fort Frances is a very well-coached club and a very good team to play against,” agreed Broncos’ bench boss Dave Craven.
“It was a pleasure to face them,” he added.
Although the Muskies fell short in winning their second-straight tournament of the season, in addition to capturing their home tournament title for the second-straight year, Clendenning was pleased with how the tune-ups for the regular season went.
“To get a first and a second to start the year is great, and I have no complaints whatsoever,” he remarked.
“The girls have come out and have worked hard, and it’s been really good to see.”
Having gone through the tournament with an unbeaten record and a first-place finish in the round-robin portion over the also undefeated Broncos (the tie for the round-robin crown was broken by the Muskies having scored more goals), the black-and-gold started off on fire Sunday as Katie Sinclair and Claire Sandelovich each lit the lamp to give the hosts a 2-0 lead.
“In the first period, the girls played the way that we wanted them to play and they were rewarded with a couple of goals,” Clendenning said.
“But the second period was one of those ‘no comment’ situations, as we came out flat and ended up back on our heels.
“When you are going up against a team like Kenora, you need you play three periods of hockey,” he stressed.
In that second frame, the Broncos roared to life thanks to a power-play marker by Jess Ricklefs and even-strength goals from Maddie Trudeau and
Hilary Moncrief, which gave them a 3-2 lead heading into the third.
“We just told the girls to calm down and play their game heading into the second,” Craven recalled.
“Fort is a very aggressive club, so we just wanted them to keep their composure and keep pushing, and maybe we could get some opportunities,” he reasoned.
“And that is exactly what happened.”
As the third period got underway, the Muskies bounced back with numerous scoring chances—only to be turned aside time and time again by Broncos’ goalie Becca Mahon.
“We started to play with some more jam and we had quite a few opportunities at the end to tie it up,” Clendenning noted.
“But we just couldn’t get on the scoreboard,” he sighed.
The best chance the Muskies had to force overtime came with just 25 seconds on the clock when they were awarded a penalty shot after the referee ruled a Kenora player had her hand on the puck in the crease during a frantic goal-mouth scramble.
Forward Amy Penner raced in on goal to try and knot the score, but Mahon shut the door on the penalty shot attempt to preserve the lead.
“We’re all really happy right now,” enthused Moncrief, the Broncos’ captain.
“This is really good for us, too, as this is a big confidence-booster for us going into the season, and that should really help us out a lot,” she added.
The Muskies earned their berth in the final with a 5-2 win over the Red Lake Rams in the semi-finals Saturday night thanks to Shilo Beck’s hat trick.
“It was our third game of the day and the girls came out a little bit flat,” Clendenning admitted.
“We told them to use their speed out there and once they started to do that, we were successful.”
Shelby Tymkin and Jessica Coran also scored for the Muskies against Red Lake.
In round-robin play, the black-and-gold opened the tournament Friday afternoon with an 8-2 victory over the St. Thomas Aquinas Saints (Kenora), then followed that up with a shutout performance by Calie Clendenning in a 5-0 triumph of the Sturgeon Heights Huskies (Winnipeg) that evening.
Not to be outdone, first-year goalie Kate Parsons stopped every shot that came her way Saturday morning in her team’s 4-0 win over the PCI Saints (Portage), which preceded a 7-3 win over the Rams that afternoon.
The Muskie girls now are preparing for their regular-season opener here next Tuesday (Nov. 13) when they’ll take on the Dryden Eagles at 7:30 p.m. at the ’52 Canadians Arena.
