Dan Falloon
It didn’t seem like the most promising way to break a three-game losing streak.
But the Muskie girls’ hockey team gladly will take Tuesday night’s decisive 5-2 win over the first-place Dryden Eagles here as a momentum-builder entering the playoffs.
“Our confidence is hopefully going to be a little bit higher going into the playoffs,” said head coach Mel Langtry.
“They [Dryden] are a top team.”
The Eagles only had suffered one loss—in overtime—in NorWOSSA action heading into the game.
The third-place Muskies open their best-of-three NorWOSSA semi-final series against the second-place Kenora Broncos there tomorrow night (Feb. 26).
Fort High will host Game 2 on Sunday at 1:30 p.m. at ’52 Canadians Arena, with Game 3 (if necessary) back in Kenora on Tuesday night (March 2).
Dryden will square off against St. Thomas Aquinas (Kenora) in the other semi-final.
The black-and-gold made sure never to let Dryden get a lead, here Tuesday night, netting an early goal and then clipping the Eagles with a three-goal outburst in the second period.
Jessie Baker kicked things off with a goal just two minutes into the game.
But the Eagles struck back later in the frame as Alex Reid beat Muskie goalie Melissa Payne.
Fort High took control in the second, though, with Taylor Dixon and Jillian Langtry notching goals about a minute apart to stake the hosts to a 3-1 lead.
Courtney Bethune then put Fort High up 4-1 heading into the third.
Carlee Bosma gave the black-and-gold a four-goal cushion early in the frame, with Alex Wesley replying for Dryden to round out the scoring.
Nicole Beadle contributed a pair of assists to help the Muskies win.
“We needed that shot-in-the-arm, that’s for sure, and we seemed to get it going into the playoffs,” enthused Langtry.
Payne stopped 39 shots for the black-and-gold, who responded with 35 the other way.
Langtry credited his goalie, but also pointed out his defenders were instrumental in the effort, reducing the quality of the Eagles’ shots.
“We’ve been working on our defensive zone in practice, and I thought that was a lot better,” he noted. “They weren’t point-blank shots like she’s used to getting.
“She [Payne] controlled the rebounds really well, and she actually had a penalty shot against her and she stopped that,” he added.
While Langtry was encouraged by the five-goal outburst, he was more pleased with how the goals were scored.
He had felt that his team wasn’t scoring the greasy goals from in close coming into the game, but four of the five on Tuesday were short tap-ins.
“We showed a lot more heart,” he lauded. “Four of our goals were rebound goals, so we were working a little bit harder, the second effort was there.
“It was all about working in front of the corners and getting some traffic in front of the net,” he stressed.
