Lucas Punkari
It was the Jillian Langtry show at the ’52 Canadians Arena on Tuesday night.
The slick-skating forward provided all of the offence for the Muskie girls’ hockey team in a 5-1 victory over the Dryden Eagles in what was a preview of their upcoming NorWOSSA semi-final series.
“I was really determined,” Langtry said after the game.
“We all wanted to beat them so bad after losing to them in some close games this season, and the team came out and played really well as a result,” she added.
Despite the final score, the Eagles did control the play many times during the game, but had a tough time trying to solve Muskie goalie Dana Cridland, whose lone blemish came on a goal by Morgan Church in the second period.
“I thought she played really well,” Muskie coach Mel Langtry said of Cridland.
“The shots were something like 35-30 for us, so it was pretty close in that respect, and Jillian was able to score some key goals, which always helps us out when she is able to do that,” he added.
Both teams now will prepare to face-off with each other in the best-of-three NorWOSSA semi-final, which opens tomorrow at 8 p.m. in Dryden.
Game 2 will go Sunday at 2:45 p.m. at the Ice for Kids Arena while, Game 3, is set for Tuesday at 6 p.m. back in Dryden.
“This win should give us a lot of confidence heading into Friday,” Coach Langtry said.
“We’ve lost games against Dryden by one goal, and have had games with them this year that have gone to overtime and a shootout,” he noted.
“This was the one game this year that wasn’t close, so maybe we have something going here,” he added.
The semi-final winner then will face the league-leading Kenora Broncos in the best-of-three NorWOSSA final, which will get underway Friday, March 4 in Kenora.
