Muskie girls edge Babbitt

The Muskie girls’ hockey team made a strong start to the second half of its season by earning a 3-2 victory over the Babbitt Knights on Friday night at the Ice for Kids Arena.
“It was a good win being that it was after Christmas and we were short quite a few players,” coach Chris Hill noted.
“You never know how it’s going to go right after Christmas.
“We had practised Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday for about an hour but we hadn’t played since Dec. 22,” he added.
The victory over the Knights extended the Muskies’ winning streak to three games—one shy of matching their longest streak of the season.
“We keep getting these wins here and there, some of them are prettier than others, but it’s good for us from a confidence standpoint,” Hill remarked.
A busy first period saw end-to-end action as both teams were eager to play following a long Christmas layoff.
Babbitt struck first and held a 1-0 lead until second-year Muskie centre Taylor Meyers netted her 11th goal of the season to tie the game heading into the first intermission.
After a frantic first period of play, the game took on a more methodical pace in the second—a fact that undoubtedly was beneficial for the Muskies as they were without the services of Miranda Kellar, Jessica Barker, Lauren Krukoski, and Kailey Curtis due to a combination of injuries, illness, and holiday commitments.
But despite their depleted lineup, the black-and-gold took their first lead of the game courtesy of Kristen Penner’s fourth goal of the season just past the midway point of the second period.
Penner then added to the Muskie lead four minutes later when she took a pass from Meyers and scored her second of the game to make it 3-1 after two periods.
Babbitt refused to go quietly in the third, however, scoring a goal in the waning moments of the game to cut the deficit to 3-2 and set up an exciting finish.
The Knights pressed the attack, pulling their goalie in favour of an extra skater but the black-and-gold, led by goalie Katie Stearns, shut the door to earn the win.
The Muskie girls will be looking to add a few wins to their 11-9-5 record this week when they begin a stretch of four games in six nights.
Action gets underway tomorrow night (Jan. 11) when the black-and-gold travel to Rainy River to face the Baudette Bears. Game time is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
The Muskies then return home for back-to-back games Jan. 12-13 at the Ice for Kids Arena.
The squad resumes NorWOSSA action Friday at 7:30 p.m. against the Dryden Eagles before facing the Eveleth Golden Bears in exhibition action on Saturday at 5 p.m.
The Muskies then will wrap up their mini three-game homestand next Tuesday (Jan. 16) at 7:15 p.m. against the Kenora Broncos at Ice For Kids Arena.