Muskie girls tops at home tourney

The Muskie girls’ hockey team skated away as champs of their third-annual tournament over the weekend, culminating in an 8-3 win over the Kenora Broncos in the gold-medal game yesterday.
“I knew we’d do good, but this is better than I expected for our first games,” said forward Miranda Kellar, attributing the team’s four wins in as many games to “just confidence and playing like a team.”
The girls opened action Friday night with a 7-0 shutout over the Portage Collegiate Saints, then thumped another batch of Saints—the St. Thomas Aquinas variety—by a 9-1 margin Saturday morning.
The Muskies then faced what was, by far, their closest match of the weekend in the Dryden Eagles, winning 3-1 on Saturday night.
Their perfect record in round-robin play led them to Sunday’s final, in which Lauren Krukoski netted a hat trick and Kristen Penner notched five points.
The outcome of the gold-medal game had been all but decided after the second period, when the Muskies led the Broncos 6-1.
Muskie head coach Lynn Kellar was happy with the girls’ play, saying it was a good way to start the season. “It’s nice to get on the ice and get going again, and see where you are,” he remarked.
He added that even with Krukoski’s 10 goals and Penner’s 13 points during the tournament, there weren’t any big standouts in terms of performance over the weekend.
“I think that’s one of the nice points, we really didn’t rely on anybody,” Kellar said. “I think that’s going to be one of the keys to our success, that anyone can step out of the lineup.”
The Fort Frances Midget girls also participated in the 10-team tournament, but did not fare as well as their high school sisters.
The Midgets lost 7-1 to Dryden, 12-1 to Kenora, and 9-2 to the St. James Blues before falling 1-0 to Portage on Sunday.
Midgets’ head coach Derek Perreault said the blowouts were discouraging, but that the girls were enjoying their weekend.
“They’re just looking to get some experience playing some high-level hockey,” he explained.
Next up for the Muskie girls is the Sturgeon Heights Collegiate Invitational Husky Female Hockey Classic this coming weekend in Winnipeg, with their first game slated for Friday at 7:45 p.m. versus the Sanford Sabres.