Lucas Punkari
With a pair of back-and-forth playoff games already in the books, the stage seemingly was set for a classic series-deciding contest between the Muskie girls’ hockey team and the Dryden Eagles on Tuesday night.
Instead, the third-and-deciding game of their NorWOSSA semi-final proved to be an one-sided affair as the Eagles skated to a 6-1 victory to advance to the league final against Kenora starting tomorrow.
“It really caught us off-guard,” admitted Muskie head coach Mel Langtry.
“We started off the first period pretty well and we were sticking with them, but then we started to run into a lot of penalty trouble,” he noted.
“I think it ended up being eight penalties for us and just one for them, and that’s not good any way you look at it.”
The Muskies, in fact, were tied 1-1 with the Eagles after the first period, with Shelby Tymkin netting Fort High’s goal.
But the Eagles took over the game from there, with Kristen Bartlett leading the way with a hat trick.
Despite their early exit from the playoffs, Langtry was pleased with his team’s season overall, especially since they had a fairly young lineup.
“Considering all that we went through, I thought it was a really good year,” he remarked.
“Throughout the entire season, we didn’t have a full lineup at our disposable, whether it be through injuries, illness, or other things that went on,” Langtry said.
“So that go through that and still finish with a .500 record for the season is something I’m very happy with,” he reasoned.
With only three Grade 12 players on the roster (goalie Melissa Payne, defender Melanie Scott, and forward Jessica Taggart) not expected back for the 2011/12 campaign, this year’s young core for the black-and-gold seem to be setting the stage for bigger things to come.
“It’s a young squad so we’ll see who will all stay, but everyone’s not guaranteed a spot, of course,” stressed Langtry, who also said he will wait and see if he’s back behind the bench next season.
