Joey Payeur
The Great White North got the better of the Red, White, and Blue.
Shilo Beck scored twice while Kate Parsons made 27 saves as the Muskie girls’ hockey team beat the International Falls Broncos 6-2 in exhibition action here Tuesday night.
“We thought it would be a lot closer,” admitted Beck.
“But we wanted it more tonight,” she added. “We worked harder and got rewarded with the win.”
Parsons recovered from the Broncos’ Hillary Fox scoring on the power play just 2:42 into the game to play steady the rest of the way.
“I thought I had it,” Parsons said about the goal jammed home by Fox.
“It was under my pad but I guess it slid behind me, and one more whack and they put it in.”
“You feel like you put your team in a bad situation but you can’t get down on yourself,” Parsons stressed.
“You have to psych yourself back up and don’t let if affect you.”
The Muskies responded just over five minutes later on a beautiful give-and-go between Claire Sandelovich and Hailey Clendenning, who blasted a shot top shelf to the glove side of Broncos’ goalie Keanna Carlson.
After the ensuing flurry of stuffed toys rained down as part of the Muskies’ annual “Teddy Bear Toss” promotion, Fort High grabbed the lead with less than six minutes left in the period.
Shelby Tymkin had her shot blocked but the puck bounced right to Katie Sinclair, who slammed a howitzer past Carlson.
Sydney Raboin tied it for the Broncos 46 seconds into the second on another man advantage.
But 29 seconds later, Beck charged into the zone 1-on-1 and blazed around defender Emily Saari before putting a backhander five-hole on Carlson.
“I’ve been telling the girls to get out of their comfort zone and don’t be afraid to try and make a hockey play, and that’s what Shilo did,” lauded Muskie head coach Scott Clendenning.
The black-and-gold added to the lead on Kaily Greengrass’ power-play goal with just over eight minutes left in the second.
With 7:37 to go in the third, Beck notched her second just three seconds into another power-play when she fired the puck forward right after a face-off win by Jessica Coran and a quick pass from Alexis Perreault.
Tymkin then closed the scoring with a fantastic effort while on the penalty kill—stealing the puck in the Falls’ zone and driving the net before outwaiting Carlson to slide the puck home as she fell to the ice.
Parsons gave kudos to reserve roster call-ups Sydney Johnson and Emma Noga, who were pushed into more prominent roles unexpectedly.
“Sydney had to come in to play defence because Lauren [Vold] aggravated an injury during warm-up and was really using the things she’s worked on in practice,” the netminder said.
“Then when Amber [Jourdain] got hurt in the second, Emma stepped [in] and she was just a spitfire out there.”
Jourdain reaggravated a knee injury
The Muskies next head to Portage la Prairie, Man. this weekend for the three-day Portage Collegiate Institute Saints tournament starting tomorrow.
Fort Frances will face the St. Mary’s Academy Flames (Winnipeg) in their first game, then the Dryden Eagles and Sanford Sabres to close out preliminary-round action.
The Muskie boys, meanwhile, suffered their first defeat of the NorWOSSA season with a 5-0 loss to the host Kenora Broncos on Tuesday night.
“We outshot them something like 60-18 but we need to tighten up defensively,” stressed Muskie head coach Jamie Davis.
The black-and-gold played the second half of the game without leading scorer Cole Tymkin, who was handed a game misconduct for hitting from behind in the second period.
“We hate to lose but this could be good for us,” admitted Davis.
“It goes to show anything can happen and no team is unbeatable.”
Fort High (2-1 in NorWOSSA play) only trailed 1-0 after the second on a goal by Riley Beacham—despite holding a huge advantage in puck possession.
But Tyler Kinger doubled the lead at 2:03 of the third with a one-timer past Muskie goalie Jonah Johnson.
Jed Rattai then netted a pair of power-play goals 30 seconds apart during Graeme Kitt’s four-minute spearing penalty to make it 4-0.
Eastin Gauthier rounded out the scoring with 3:33 left against Derek Kaemingh, who took over for Johnson after the fourth Kenora goal.
Noah Witzke earned the shutout.
The Muskie boys next are in Brandon, Man. for a four-day tournament, with their first game tonight at 8 p.m. against the Sturgeon Heights Huskies (Winnipeg).
