The Muskie girls’ hockey team ran the table at their third-annual tournament over the weekend, trouncing any and all competition, including a 8-3 win in Sunday’s gold-medal game over the Kenora Broncos.
“I knew we’d do good, but this is better than I expected for our first games,” said forward Miranda Kellar, attributing the team’s four wins in as many games to “just confidence and playing like a team.”
The girls opened action Friday night with a 7-0 shutout over the Portage Collegiate Saints, then thumped another batch of Saints—the St. Thomas Aquinas variety—by a 9-1 score Saturday morning.
The Muskies faced what was, by far, their closest match of the weekend in the Dryden Eagles, winning 3-1 on Saturday night.
Their perfect record in round-robin play led them to Sunday’s final, in which Lauren Krukoski netted a hat trick and Kristen Penner notched five points.
The outcome of the gold-medal game had been all but decided after the second period, when the Muskies led 6-1.
Muskie head coach Lynn Kellar was happy with the girls’ play, saying it was a good way to start the season.
“It’s nice to get on the ice and get going again, and see where you are,” he remarked. “This is pretty well the same team that’s back from last year, so we’re pretty well able to step back to where we were.”
While defenceman Lauren Pierce said the Muskies won by being the better team on the ice, she said she was surprised by the play of NorWOSSA rivals Dryden and Kenora.
“I didn’t expect that from [them],” she admitted. “I think there’s less fear of Kenora and Dryden.”
Both Miranda Kellar and Pierce pointed to the Penner-Krukoski-Haven Labbe line (with Labbe’s spot filled by Nina Bird late in the tournament) as the engine behind the Muskies’ gold status.
But coach Kellar said even with Krukoski’s 10 goals and Penner’s 13 points during the tournament, there weren’t any big standouts in terms of performance over the weekend.
“I think that’s one of the nice points, we really didn’t rely on anybody,” he remarked. “I think that’s going to be one of the keys to our success, that anyone can [stand] out of the lineup.”
Kellar said while the tournament was the time to “work out the kinks” in the team’s play, he found little to complain about, noting the quality forecheck he saw all weekend.
He also commended the quality of the girls’ skating across the board, and the “solid” goaltending from both netminders.
Sara Trendiak and Katie Stearns split the duties with two games apiece, with Stearns earning the shutout over Portage and allowing just a goal over the tournament.
The Fort Frances Midget girls also participated in the 10-team tournament, but did not fare as well as their high school sisters, losing 7-1 to Dryden, 12-1 to Kenora, and 9-2 to the St. James Blues before falling 1-0 to Portage on Sunday.
Midgets’ head coach Derek Perreault said the blowouts were discouraging, but that the girls were enjoying their weekend.
“They’re just looking to get some experience playing some high-level hockey,” he noted.
Perreault added the biggest difference between his girls and the other teams wasn’t skill, but discipline and experience.
“They can skate with the teams, but we can’t land in the penalty box,” he stressed. “We get in the penalty box, pucks get in our net.”
Up next for the Muskie girls is the Sturgeon Heights Collegiate Invitational Husky Female Hockey Classic this weekend in Winnipeg, with their first game set for Friday at 7:45 p.m. versus the Sanford Sabres.
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
