Mitch Calvert
The Muskie girls’ hockey team went across the river Monday and earned their third-straight win over the International Falls Broncos, getting a pair of third-period goals from Jillian Langtry and Kailey Curtis to sweep the season exhibition series with their border rivals.
The Broncos opened the scoring in the first on a goal by Sydney Gordon, but the Muskies tied the score before the end of the period on Carlee Bosma’s tally.
The deadlock remained until the third when rookie sensation Langtry broke in on a breakaway and slid a backhander under goalie Taylar Nelson to give the Muskies their first lead of the game.
“She was a rookie we were excited about [at the beginning of the year], and she’s come out and gotten her groove on lately, putting pucks on net and doing the right things out on the ice,” Muskie coach Chris Hill enthused.
“At first she was making all the plays, but she was a smaller girl in a bigger league,” he noted. “But now she’s adjusted and is playing like a bigger girl.”
Curtis, the Muskie captain who had plenty of scoring chances earlier in the game, netted a much-needed insurance marker shortly afterwards—converting a rebound off a strong rush from Taylor Meyers while killing a penalty.
“It was kind of frustrating because I couldn’t score, but once I got it, it was pretty exciting,” Curtis said.
The Broncos had six power-play opportunities to none for the Muskies, but after scoring on their first to make it 3-2, the hosts couldn’t muster another goal with the extra player despite four key chances in the third.
Mackenzie Raboin had one last chance for the equalizer with the Broncos’ goalie pulled, breaking past the Muskie defence in the final seconds, but she was tripped up at the final buzzer before getting a shot off.
The referee opted to signal a trip rather than award Raboin a penalty shot.
“It wouldn’t be an American game without a little added controversy and fun at the end, but we got to work on our penalty kill and it’s been pretty good for us,” Hill laughed.
Sara Trendiak, expected to be the workhorse in goal for the Muskies for the rest of the season as their lone netminder, had another stellar outing, stopping 23 shots, including 14 in the second period.
“She comes up big for us a lot,” Curtis said. “We only have one goalie, so it’s tough, but she tries her best out there and usually does a really good job.”
The black-and-gold beat the Broncos 8-1 back on Dec. 5 and then again 4-2 on Dec. 19, but Hill said the Bronco team they played Monday night was much-improved.
“I think they’ve improved positionally, and their goaltending has gotten better,” he explained. “And on our side, we just haven’t been finishing on opportunities lately. We aren’t burying our chances and putting teams away.”
The Muskies were coming off a big 5-1 win over the previously unbeaten Dryden Eagles in NorWOSSA action here Friday night.
The black-and-gold improved to 5-2-0-1 in league play while the first-place Eagles dropped to 6-1.
“We really wanted it and we knew we had to win,” Curtis said. “The adrenaline was pumping, and we were all ready to go.”
Despite being heavily outshot in the first period, Trendiak kept the Muskies in it and they went to the intermission with a 2-0 lead on goals by Bosma and Curtis.
Jessie Baker extended the lead to 3-0 in the second before the Eagles finally scored off the stick of Lauren Shoguchi, but could not pull any closer.
Baker netted her second of the game in the third, with Lauren Krukoski added another down the stretch.
The squad next was expected to play the Baudette Bears in Rainy River tomorrow (Jan. 22) as a make-up for a cancelled game between the two teams back on Dec. 11.
