Mitch Calvert
As a final tune-up prior to their NorWOSSA season-opener here last night against Dryden, the Muskie girls’ hockey team recorded two wins and three losses at a tournament in Winnipeg over the weekend.
“It wasn’t too bad,” coach Chris Hill said. “The girls played pretty well, considering we played two of the top teams in Manitoba and lost close game.”
The black-and-gold opened action with a hard-fought 2-0 loss to Oak Park, a perennial powerhouse in Winnipeg’s high school hockey ranks.
The Muskie offence roared to life in their next game, however, in a 10-2 pounding of Dakota. Lauren Krukoski and Jessie Baker each netted hat tricks in the rout.
Then they faced College Jeanne-Sauve, another good team, and lost a tight 2-1 decision. A win would have put them into the semi-finals.
Instead, Fort High dropped down to the consolation side, where they were blanked 3-0 by Shaftesbury despite out-shooting the Titans 30-18.
“They weren’t the strongest team we played all weekend, but that’s how it goes sometimes,” Hill remarked.
The Muskies wrapped up the tournament on a high note, however, storming back in the third period to defeat St. John’s Ravenscourt 4-2.
Jillian Langtry had two goals and an assist in that one while Kailey Curtis added a goal and two helpers.
“It was good to try a few different things,” noted Hill. “We competed pretty good in the tournament, but we do have seven new faces and a lot of good teams, competition-wise, in Manitoba made it a good test.
“There are obviously a couple things to work on, maybe finishing our chances and scoring a couple more goals when we get chances, but defensively we weren’t too bad,” Hill added.
“The one thing with really competitive teams is all their lines are pretty solid, so it’s not like you are going against a weaker line at times, so they always tested the ‘D’.”
Despite returning home with a sub-.500 record, Hill said the tournament was a productive one in getting his team ready for league action.
“As much as you’d like to win the thing, it’s good preparation playing a few different teams and facing tough competition,” he stressed.
The outcome from last night’s game against Dryden was not available as of press time.
