Joey Payeur
It was black-and-gold with plenty of blue mixed in, plus one sparkling silver lining.
The third-ranked Muskie girls’ hockey team ran into a buzzsaw in the form of the top-seeded St. Michael Warriors (Stratford), who captured the gold medal at the OFSAA ‘A/AA’ championship in Kenora with a 5-1 victory in yesterday’s final.
Still, it was a historic day for Fort High, whose silver showing gave the girls’ program its first OFSAA medal in its 15-year existence.
“It’s good to be able to say that we fought until the end,” said teary-eyed but proud Muskie captain Amy Penner.
“The last four years have made a big difference in my life,” she added.
Muskie head coach Scott Clendenning had nothing but praise for his troops following a season that saw Fort High earn its second-straight NorWOSSA crowns, then win five-straight games at OFSAA before yesterday’s defeat.
“We will take the silver,” he remarked.
“It’s been a great year and this is a great group of kids.
“St. Michael was the better team today,” Clendenning added. “Congrats to them.
“They’re a well-coached, hard-nosed bunch.”
The Warriors outscored their opponents 41-1 at OFSAA while racking up a 6-0 record.
They carried the play for the most part yesterday with a 32-17 advantage in shots on goal.
Neve Van Pelt and Kiernyn Campbell (power play) scored first-period goals 2:44 apart to put St. Michael up 2-0.
Lexi Templeman then made good on a breakaway at 4:14 of the second before Bridgid Goris’ deflection goal 1:16 later made it 4-0.
Clendenning pulled starter Kate Parsons, who couldn’t be faulted on any of the goals, and put in Calie Clendenning to try and light a spark for his team.
But the Warriors kept coming, with Van Pelt scoring her second later in the frame.
The Muskies didn’t fold their tents in the third, though, and finally ended St. Michael’s week-long shutout streak with 3:30 to go.
Penner sent a pass from behind the net to Jessica Coran, who quickly redirected the puck in front to Annalise Hayes.
Hayes promptly drilled it home—leading to a jubilant celebration by the Muskies on the ice and on the bench.
“That was the goal we set in the second intermission,” said Penner. “We wanted to get at least one.”
Warriors’ goalie Rebecca Ropp made 16 saves to backstop her squad to OFSAA gold.
