Mitch Calvert
The Muskie girls’ hockey team wasn’t about to settle for second place again.
After a pair of losses in tournament finals in Altona and Dryden last month, the Muskies took a big step forward with a 5-2 win over their NorWOSSA rivals, the Kenora Broncos, in the final of the first-annual Saints Christmas Classic in Portage La Prairie, Man. on Saturday.
Lauren Krukoski opened the scoring with the lone goal of the first period, then Taylor Meyers netted a pair of her own.
Carlee Bosma and Kailey Curtis each added late goals in the third period to prevent any chance of a Broncos’ comeback.
Miranda Kellar had two assists against Kenora while Katrina Smith stopped 20 of 22 shots to earn the win between the pipes, having just recently returned to the squad after a prolonged absence for personal reasons.
Kelsey Craven scored both goals for the Broncos.
Fort High played four games over the two-day tournament, registering three wins and a tie.
“The girls worked really hard this entire weekend in both ends of the rink,” Muskie head coach Chris Hill enthused. “They have come together as a team and their hard work has paid off.
“It was a great weekend for the team.”
The black-and-gold opened against Winnipeg powerhouse Oak Park, who they had lost to 2-0 back on Nov. 7 in Winnipeg but this time battled the Raiders to a 1-1 tie.
The game was scoreless until the third when the Muskies struck first, getting a goal off the stick of Curtis with just under five minutes to play.
Danielle Leslie then lit the lamp with just over a minute left to salvage the point for Oak Park.
Smith was a big factor in goal for the Fort High, stopping 32 of the 33 shots she faced.
The Muskies stormed back with a 9-0 rout of the Fort Richmond Centurions, firing a whopping 68 shots on goal.
Jillian Langtry, Kristen Penner, and Bosma each had a pair of goals while Kellar, Curtis, and Lindsey Roehrig added the others.
Sara Trendiak stopped all 10 shots she faced for the relatively easy shutout.
The Muskies then doubled the Westwood Warriors 4-2 in the semi-finals. Curtis, Penner, Jessica Taggart, and Haven Labbe all scored while Bosma and Krukoski each drew a pair of assists.
That set up yet another meeting with their rivals from Kenora—and once again the Muskies broke the Broncos’ hearts, improving their record between the two schools to 5-1 so far this season.
Portage Collegiate Institute, the tourney host, nipped the St. Thomas Aquinas Saints (Kenora) 2-1 in the bronze-medal game.
The Muskies, 3-0-0-1 in NorWOSSA play, were in Dryden last night to face the 4-0 Eagles (the result was unavailable by press time).
The squad is in Kenora for another league game tomorrow night (Dec. 18), then will play across the river in International Falls on Friday.
Then they’ll break for the holidays, not resuming action until Jan. 6 when Kenora comes to town.
