Muskie girls force Game 3

Anyone who decided to stay home and watch golf on TV yesterday afternoon missed the most exciting Muskie girls’ hockey game yet this season.
Miranda Kellar netted the game-winner in the second overtime period to give the black-and-gold a 5-4 victory over the visiting Dryden Eagles to force a third-and-deciding game in their NorWOSSA semi-final series.
Game 3 goes tomorrow at 7:30 p.m. in Dryden, with the winner advancing to the league final against first-place Kenora starting on Friday (March 3).
“This was our biggest win in team history,” assistant coach Chris Hill enthused after yesterday’s victory. “Honestly, to get a win is a big challenge. We’ve had good talent all year, now we have to put that into play.”
Katie McTavish was helped off the ice after being kneed in the leg in the final minutes of the game. It was unknown at press time today whether she’ll be ready for tomorrow night’s game.
But the rest of the team couldn’t hold back their excitement as they hollered “We did it, we won in overtime!” while heading to the dressing room.
“We didn’t want our season to end,” said Hannah Firth, who scored a pair of goals for the Muskies.
“Now we have to be prepared for a real hard-fought game [tomorrow], go right from the drop of the puck and work for the win. That’s what we have to do,” she stressed.
The Eagles opened the scoring in the first period, but Firth netted her first of the game about a minute later. Lauren Krukoski then made it 2-1 for the Muskies before Dryden tied the score before intermission.
Dryden regained the lead with the lone goal of the second period.
The Muskies poured it on to start the third, getting goals from Nina Bird and Firth to forge a 4-3 lead. But just when victory was in sight, Dryden knotted the game with just over a minute left in regulation time.
A 10-minute, sudden-death overtime period solved nothing. That set the stage for Kellar’s heroics with about six minutes left in the second overtime, which was scheduled for 20 minutes.
Fort High was coming off a narrow 3-2 loss in overtime in the opener Friday night in Dryden.
The Muskies were down 2-0 heading into the third period, but rallied with a pair of goals to force overtime before falling.