Christmas came early for the Dryden Eagles there Friday night—with the Muskie boys’ hockey team supplying the gifts.
Defensive zone breakdowns that led to six Dryden goals in the last two periods helped the Eagles end the Muskies’ run at a perfect NorWOSSA season with a 7-2 victory.
“We were terrible in our own zone,” Muskie head coach Shane Bliss said unhappily afterwards. “We were throwing the puck away, and not picking up the man.
“We talked about it before the game. We just dropped the ball,” he added.
Marion Gardner went haywire on the Muskies (8-1) as the Dryden forward collected a pair of goals to go along with three assists.
Andrew Skene, Blain McKim, Justin Helie, Matt Heitto, and Ben Bartlett also scored for the Eagles while Brian Chambers and Kyle McTavish replied for the black-and-gold.
Meanwhile, the Muskie girls’ squad (0-6) stayed close for the first 20 minutes, but a pair of Dryden goals less than three minutes apart early in the second period sparked the host Eagles to a 7-0 victory Friday night.
“We did a lot of good things, and implemented a lot of things we’ve been practising,” said Muskie assistant coach Allan Barr. “We’re not measuring our successes on the scoreboard, but in our own improvement.”
Keri Anderson and Carly Brown each tallied twice for Dryden, with Niki Kruger, Brittany Bembenick, and Brittany Kamm adding singles. Melissa MacDonald earned the shutout between the pipes.
The female Muskies next head to Blaine, Mn. for the Minnesota Girls Holiday Cup tournament running this Thursday through Saturday, before returning to NorWOSSA action Jan. 7 here against the Eagles.
The boys will have an extended break before heading to Baudette for an exhibition contest Jan. 7, then resume NorWOSSA play with a Jan. 10 match-up in Kenora.
The next home game for the male Muskies is Jan. 14 against Dryden.
