The Muskie girls’ hockey team missed a chance to clinch first place in NorWOSSA hockey action last night, dropping a 6-4 decision to the host Dryden Eagles.
The Eagles—still smarting from a 2-1 home loss to Kenora on Tuesday night—scored four times in the first period to take control of the game.
Amy Hale started the scoring deluge, converting a rebound from Kylie Engstrom’s breakaway shot and tucking it past a sprawling Katie Stearns for a 1-0 Dryden lead just three minutes into the game.
The Muskies replied almost immediately as Taylor Meyers and Miranda Kellar combined to work the puck into the slot, with Meyers banging home her 12th goal of the season.
It was Kellar’s 22nd assist.
But Dryden regained the lead at the 6:25 mark of the first on the power play as veteran forward Erin Capovilla fired a hard 40-foot wrist shoot through a screen—beating Stearns high on the glove side for a 2-1 lead.
The Eagles then went up 3-1 at 10:19 as Lauren Shoguchi, off a feed from Sarah Carter, rifled a seeing eye slapshot through traffic.
The Muskies battled back as Lindsey Roehrig blasted down the right side around the Eagle net and fed Nina Bird, who was left alone in the high slot.
Bird buried a wrist shot, blocker side, just underneath the crossbar to close the gap to 3-2.
The Eagles finished the period with a late marker from Kylie Engstrom, who gobbled up her own rebound and scored Dryden’s second power-play goal of the period.
Trailing 4-2, the Muskies came out flying in the second period with several excellent scoring chances. In the end, though, Meyers, Erika Anderson, and Anikka McTavish combined for the only goal of the period at the 9:05 mark.
Anderson shot the puck into the Dryden zone with Meyers chasing it down, circling out front, and firing a quick wrist shot through a maze of Eagles.
McTavish managed to re-direct the puck in mid-flight, sneaking it past Eagles’ goalie Carolyn White to close the gap to 4-3.
The third period produced more end-to-end action, with the Eagles grabbing a 5-3 lead courtesy of a lobbed in shot by Dryden captain Brett Lobreau that managed to elude a screened Stearns just 33 seconds in.
The Muskies answered 56 seconds later as Bird netted her second of the game, and 15th of the season, on a goalmouth scramble to close the gap to 5-4.
But the Eagles iced the victory when Capovilla counted her second of the game on a beautiful wrist shot from 35 foot out that beat a surprised Sarah Trendiak (she had replaced Stearns for a few minutes in the third period while Stearns attended to a neck guard issue).
Despite several glorious chances and six minutes of power play-time in the third period, the Muskies failed to score.
With two league games remaining on their schedule, the Muskies are two points up on both Dryden and Kenora, with games against the Eagles here next Tuesday and then in Kenora next Friday (Feb. 15).
A win, an overtime loss, or a shootout loss in either game would clinch first place for the Muskies.
On the boys’ side, the black-and-gold host the Red Lake Rams for a pair of games tonight and tomorrow afternoon at the Ice for Kids Arena.
The two-game set provides the Muskies with an opportunity to clinch the NorWOSSA regular-season crown.
With Dryden’s victory over Kenora earlier this week, the Eagles are now just a single point back of the Muskies. Fort High, however, has two games in hand—and garnering two points in their final three league games would allow the boys to clinch first place.
Tonight’s game goes at 7:15 p.m. while Saturday’s game begins at 12:15 p.m.
The Muskie boys then will close out their regular-season schedule this coming Tuesday in Kenora.
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