Joey Payeur
The temptation to look ahead is gigantic but the Muskie girls’ hockey team knows it has to keep its eyes on the road in front of them to avoid having their dreams wind up in the ditch.
The black-and-gold took another step towards becoming the first edition of the squad to qualify for the OFSAA ‘AA’ championship by sweeping the Kenora Broncos 2-0 in their best-of-three NorWOSSA semi-final.
The Muskies eked out a 4-3 overtime win in Kenora in Game 1 on Sunday, then turned on the jets to blast the Broncos 8-2 at the Ice For Kids Arena here Monday afternoon.
“We didn’t expect Kenora to go out there as hard as they did,” admitted Muskie captain Shelby Tymkin, who was the overtime hero Sunday with her second goal of the game at 1:39 of the extra session.
She also scored in Monday’s rout.
“We’re not going into the final with big heads,” Tymkin stressed. “We can’t think about getting to the provincials yet.
“We just have to go out and do the job, and take it game by game.”
Sunday was a clear case of overcoming the odds for the Muskies, who had their bus to Kenora break down near Onigaming.
The subsequent hour-long delay waiting for a replacement bus had the squad arrive at the arena with no time to eat or properly warm up, with the game already being delayed.
Hailey Clendenning opened the scoring in the first, but the Broncos fought back with two goals in the second from Hilary Moncrief and Hanna Rose to give Kenora its first lead of the season against the black-and-gold.
Kaily Greengrass later tied it but Rylee Smith then scored to make it 3-2 for the hosts after two periods.
That’s when the captain took command of the Muskie ship.
Tymkin scored on a wraparound at 1:04 of the third to tie the game, then was “Shelby-on-the-spot” in overtime to jam a loose puck home for the game-winner.
“The wraparound was the first time that’s worked all year,” she chuckled.
“On the second one, the goalie [Becca Mahon] just took her foot off the post and I put it in,” Tymkin recalled.
“They were both garbage goals but they worked.”
Kate Parson earned the win in goal while Mahon was the hard-luck loser.
The Broncos still appeared confident entering Game 2 here Monday afternoon—keeping the Muskies at bay through the first half of the opening period.
Enter Shilo Beck, who picked up the puck at the Muskie blueline and went the distance, leaving Rose grasping for air with a great inside move before going top shelf on Kenora goalie Aryn Pulz to open the scoring.
“Once we score one, we usually score quite a bit more after so it was nice to break the ice,” noted Beck.
Amber Jourdain then put the hurt on the Broncos—scoring goals two minutes apart with a slapshot from in close and then a five-star backhander from the slot that whizzed past Pulz.
“My teammates did a lot of work for me to get those two goals,” Jourdain said modestly.
“I was just standing there and the puck came to me, and I just shot as fast as I can.”
It was only a matter of time after that, with Beck getting two more in the second to complete her hat trick while Greengrass also tallied to make it 6-1 after two.
Tymkin and Penner added insurance goals in the third as Calie Clendenning was solid between the pipes to earn the win.
As of last night, the Muskies still were waiting to see whether they would face the Dryden Eagles or Red Lake Rams in the best-of-three NorWOSSA final, which is scheduled to open Saturday (March 1) at 7:15 p.m. at the Ice For Kids Arena.
Game 2 would be Monday in either Dryden or Red Lake, with Game 3 (if necessary) back here next Tuesday (March 4).
