Staff
It’s been a pretty consistent script for the Muskie girls’ hockey team on home ice so far this season.
Fall behind early, then attempt to mount a valiant comeback—only to fall short by a goal in the end.
That was the case here Friday night as Fort High (1-4) dropped a 5-4 decision to Kenora.
Fort High got the first good scoring chance of the game when Taylor Dixon was sprung on a breakaway but stonewalled by Broncos’ goalie Courtney Alcock.
Perhaps buoyed by that, Kenora opened the scoring a few minutes later when Ainsley Lindquist chipped a puck over Muskie netminder Melissa Payne at 9:19.
The Broncos kept pressing but were unsuccessful, led by a Payne save on a Sam Smith breakaway.
But Smith got revenge later on, taking a shot from the left of Payne that just squeezed through with 15 seconds left in the first period.
The visitors made it 3-0 when Jess Ricklefs hit the twine net about six minutes into the second.
On “Teddy Bear Toss” night, it was defender Sydney Jones who let the fans unleash the furry flurry, blasting a slapper over Alcock’s blocker at 9:27 of the second to make it 3-1.
The number of bears tossed onto the ice for the local Salvation Army was unavailable at press time.
The Muskies further cut into the lead at 15:06 when Shae-lynn Smith unleashed a near-carbon-copy of Jones’ goal.
Kenora bounced back early in the third, however, as Hannah Rose pounced on a rebound at 6:24.
The Broncos then made it 5-2 when Lindquist notched her second of the night, getting a shot underneath Payne’s glove at 12:18.
But Fort High didn’t roll over. Jillian Langtry pulled the Muskies close at 16:35 by drilling a close-range slapper into Alcock that bounced up and over the goalie.
Langtry struck once more with 38 seconds to play, whacking home a centering pass from Shelby Tymkin to cut the deficit to one.
The hosts couldn’t complete the comeback in the dying seconds, though.
Payne made 29 saves in all while Alcock turned aside 30.
Fort High next will visit the International Falls Broncos tomorrow (Dec. 7) at 7:30 p.m., then head to Portage la Prairie, Man. for a tournament this weekend.
They’ll return home to face Baudette in Emo on Dec. 14.
