Joey Payeur
The Muskie girls’ hockey team had only one goal in mind this past weekend.
They achieved it by only giving up one more goal than that.
Claire Sandelovich scored in regulation and then notched the shootout winner, while Kate Parsons stopped six of seven opponent shooters, to give the Muskies a 2-1 victory over the Dryden Eagles in the final of the 2013 Bronco K-Town Classic yesterday.
Amy Penner cashed in on the black-and-gold’s first chance in the scheduled five-round shootout but the Eagles tied it on their fourth chance (scorer unavailable).
But Sandelovich found the mark in the second sudden-death round before Parsons stoned the last Eagle shooter to touch off the on-ice victory celebration.
The teams were scoreless after two periods before trading goals in the third of what is evolving into NorWOSSA’s best rivalry this season.
The Dryden goal in regulation time was the first one surrendered by Fort High the entire tournament after earning three-straight shutouts to reach the final.
But Sandelovich responded with 3:30 left in the third, firing home a rebound of Hailey Clendenning’s original shot.
Sandelovich had a four-goal game in the Muskies’ 5-0 blanking of the St. Thomas Aquinas Saints (Kenora) in their opener Friday.
Shelby Tymkin had the other one while Calie Clendenning was perfect between the pipes.
Fort High made it 2-for-2 later that day with a 2-0 shutout of the Red Lake Rams.
Hailey Clendenning and Katie Sinclair (empty-netter) tallied to back the flawless work of Parsons in goal.
That set up a semi-final showdown with the Westwood Warriors (Winnipeg), who were no match for the black-and-gold in an 8-0 wipeout.
Sinclair netted a hat trick in that one while Penner notched a pair.
Tymkin, Shilo Beck, and Amber Jourdain added singles to complement Calie Clendenning’s shutout effort.
The Muskies next host the Rams for a two-game series at the Ice For Kids Arena.
The first game goes tomorrow at 7:15 p.m., followed by a matinee affair Wednesday at 1:15 p.m.
