Joey Payeur
Annalise (CC) Hayes had one goal two weeks ago against the Dryden Eagles—and had a narrow miss on a second in the final seconds that could have tied things up.
She wasn’t leaving anything to chance on Tuesday.
Hayes netted a hat trick and added an assist as the Muskies dumped the host Eagles 5-1.
“CC’s our leading scorer and our most skilled player,” noted head coach Todd Hamilton, whose team improved to 9-1 while widening its lead to eight points over second-place Dryden (5-2).
“She demonstrated a lot of patience with players being on top of her all the time on Tuesday and worked through it.”
Hayes opened the scoring at 5:30 of the first after a good pinch by Alex Gartzke at the point kept the puck in the zone, allowing Hayes to wire a shot that went off the right post, off the back of the left pad of Eagles’ goalie Hannah Zilkalns, and in.
Janelle Kaemingh’s lead pass then sent Hayes into the Dryden zone on the fly.
Eagles’ blueliner Hailee Lundmark went fishing for the puck, with Hayes making a terrific move inside the defender before whipping a wrist shot to the blocker side of Zilkalns.
McKenna Corvello pulled the Eagles to within one midway through the second.
But Hayes stormed down the left wing and drew both Lundmark and Cali Lappage to her side, leaving an unguarded Lauren Hamilton to cash in the rebound of Hayes’ backhander to restore the two-goal lead.
“Lauren’s goal gave us a little breathing room,” said Todd Hamilton.
“You always need to push through to get the next goal.”
In the third, Taylor Croswell chased down Jess Steele’s clear-in behind the Eagles’ net and fed a quick pass in front to Jenna Clendenning, who rapped it home for a 4-1 lead.
Hayes sealed the win by outracing Payton Boyko to the puck and sliding home an empty-netter with 2:21 to go.
Sydney Beck earned the win in goal.
The Muskies won’t get much of a Christmas break as they head to Blaine, Mn. on Monday to begin defence of their Schwan Cup Girls Bronze High School Division tournament championship from last season.
Fort High will open against the Owatonna (Minn.) Huskies—a tough test considering the Huskies are 6-0 in the Big 9 Girls Hockey Conference and 7-1 overall this season.
The winner then will face the survivor of the game between St. Francis/North Branch (Minn.) and Green Bay (Wis.) on Tuesday.
The finals take place Wednesday.
