Mitch Calvert
If the Muskie girls’ hockey team hoped to advance to the NorWOSSA final against Dryden, they needed a performance in the third-and-deciding game of their semi-final showdown with Kenora here last night that was reminiscent of their success in the first half of the season.
In fact, it’s been a tale of two different seasons for the black-and-gold—which also showed in their split of the first two playoff games versus the Broncos.
The Muskies won 22 games in the first-half of the season, capturing two tournament titles and finishing second in two others, but managed just four wins in nine games after the Christmas break, including four-straight defeats to close out the regular season.
It looked like the team from the second half had showed up for Game 1 on Friday night as Fort High trailed 3-1 after two periods. But the Muskies circa November then came alive in the third—scoring four goals in just over three minutes for a thrilling 5-4 come-from-behind victory.
“We told the girls we’re down to possibly two games left and we’re going to give everyone a shift out there, and the ones who really got the heart will continue to see the ice and we’ll go from there,” Hill said of his second-intermission talk.
“We had a really good response and everyone seemed to get the job done in the third,” he added.
Jillian Langtry started the rally when she blew by a Broncos’ defender and snapped a shot short-side past Stephanie Ferguson’s blocker.
Less than two minutes later, Courtney Easton spotted Kristen Penner camped off to the side of the Broncos’ net, who converted on a one-timer to tie the score at 3-3.
Jessie Baker then gave the Muskies their first lead when she poked home a loose puck off a scramble out front just 90 seconds later, forcing the Broncos to try to halt the momentum with a time-out.
That did little to stem the tide, however, as Penner set up Kailey Curtis all alone in the slot just 15 seconds afterwards to cap the remarkable comeback.
Layne Lampshire drew the Broncos within one with under two minutes left in regulation time and Ferguson on the bench in favour of the extra attacker, but the Muskies held the visitors at bay the rest of the way to eke out the win.
Taylor Meyers had scored for the Muskies in the second period while Kelsey Craven, Erica Johnson, and Linnea Vaudry had the other goals for Kenora.
It was the Broncos’ turn to rally in Game 2 on Sunday, however, as Sam Smith scored the tying goal in the third, then netted the game-winner in overtime, to give Kenora the narrow 2-1 win and send the series back to Fort Frances for the finale last night.
The Muskies outshot the hosts 43-21 on Sunday, but Miranda Kellar had the lone Fort High goal in a penalty-filled affair that saw the teams combine for 22 infractions.
“Typically this has been a time of year when we’ve had a little bit of bad luck,” Hill admitted, referring to suspensions that put a big dent in their OFSAA hopes last season.
The team’s schedule lightens up considerably in the second half of the season, and that extra downtime may have negatively affected their play.
“We’re not really good with the two games a week schedule we’ve had, but I kind of thought if we got a win and got rolling, we’d have a good chance of moving on,” Hill said of the playoffs.
“In my five years here, I’ve noticed if we score the first goal, it seems to loosen us up a bit and we play the way we can. If we don’t, we do have the ability to catch up [like Friday], but we can get blown out, too, so it’s kind of a fine line.
“To be honest, if we continue the hard work and intensity we showed during the third period on Friday and the entire game on Sunday, we should be successful,” Hill said in preparation for last night’s winner-take-all game.
“We have stressed to the girls to take care of business in our end first and get as many pucks to the net as possible.
“We need to score a few more goals and continue playing strong defence to come out on top,” Hill stressed.
The Dryden Eagles await the winner after they knocked out the St. Thomas Aquinas Saints 9-1 on Monday to sweep their semi-final series.
