Mitch Calvert
Close, but no cigar.
That’s been the unfortunate theme of the Muskie girls’ hockey season to date as they suffered a second-consecutive loss in a tournament final.
The black-and-gold fell 2-1 to the Kelvin Clippers (Winnipeg) in the final of the seventh-annual Northern Shield Girls’ High School Hockey Classic on Saturday in Dryden.
Fort High also lost in the final of a tournament in Altona, Man.—3-1 to the host W.C. Miller Aces—back on Nov. 23.
Lauren Krukoski’s opening goal looked like it would hold up as the winner against Kelvin, but Kristen Penner took a major penalty for hitting-from-behind in the third period, leading to the tying goal by Kelvin with under five minutes to play.
The Clippers then rode the momentum from there, adding a second goal with 1:22 left to break the Muskies’ hearts.
“Both teams were a little bit tired, but you know, it was ours to win,” Muskie coach Chris Hill remarked. “They called off one goal early that we don’t know if it was or wasn’t [in], but it was frustrating.
“The girls played really hard, but you can only kill off so much,” he added.
The squad actually opened the tournament with a 4-0 shutout over those same Clippers on Friday. Krukoski connected for two goals while Jillian Langtry and Kailey Curtis added singles.
The black-and-gold then suffered their first setback of the tournament, however, falling 5-1 to the Kenora Broncos—a team they’ve already beaten twice in NorWOSSA play.
Carlee Bosma netted the lone marker for the Muskies.
But Fort High responded well in their third game, trouncing Red Lake 4-1. Penner notched two third-period goals in that one while Bosma and Jessie Baker had the other ones.
In an interesting twist, the Muskies got a second crack at Kenora in the semi-finals, having claimed the third seed while Kenora finished second.
Penner scored in the third period to give the black-and-gold a nail-biting 1-0 win.
Sara Trendiak played all five games in goal for the Muskies, earning two shutouts in the process.
The host Dryden Eagles had the best record after the round-robin, but were upset by fourth-place Kelvin in the other semi-final to set the stage for the Clippers to capture the tourney crown.
The Eagles later won the consolation final with a shootout victory over the Broncos.
After hosting the Kenora Broncos last night (the outcome wasn’t available prior to press time), the Muskie girls then will square off against visiting International Falls this Friday (Dec. 5) beginning at 5:15 p.m. as part of a double-header with the Muskie boys’ game versus the Falls.
“That’s the exciting part of living on the border,” Hill said of the heated hockey rivalry.
