Joey Payeur
If Claire Sandelovich had her way, the Muskie girls’ hockey team would be shorthanded all the time.
The Fort High forward netted four goals and added an assist to pace the Muskies to a 10-0 thrashing of the Kenora Broncos in the NorWOSSA-opener for both teams last night at the Ice For Kids Arena.
One of the four came exactly five minutes into the second period with Katie Sinclair in the box for tripping.
Sandelovich intercepted a clearing pass at the Broncos’ blueline, took one stride, and blasted a shot past Aryn Puls, who absorbed the full brunt of the Muskies’ onslaught with no back-up goalie available to relieve her from her misery.
“Penalty-killing is my favourite unit to play on,” beamed the Grade 11 sniper, who came within one of her personal best mark of five goals in one game, set against the Sioux Lookout Warriors.
“It’s weird but I’d rather be out there then instead of 5-on-5,” Sandelovich admitted.
“I like that there’s a lot more pressure and gives you more of a chance to contribute to the team.”
Muskie assistant coach Larry Beck said Sandelovich isn’t one to dawdle when the puck reaches her stick.
“She doesn’t give it a couple of stickhandles first,” he noted. “She gets it and gets rid of it.
“She was good at getting her position in front of the net and we’re always looking to hit the person in the slot with the pass.”
Sandelovich kicked off the goal-fest with a 25-foot blast that beat Puls three minutes into the game against an understaffed Broncos’ squad that was forced to go with two lines all night.
Then before the period was seven minutes old, the Muskies (1-0) notched two more goals in a span of 48 seconds.
Shelby Tymkin won a face-off cleanly straight ahead to Sinclair, who quickly fired the puck past Puls.
Shilo Beck then completed a dazzling tic-tac-toe play right in front of Puls, started by linemates Jessica Coran and Amy Penner, to make it 3-0.
Fort High lost some of its intensity after the quick start, but rebounded in the second period.
After Sandelovich’s short-handed marker, Alexis Perreault found Tymkin in front with a hard pass that the Muskie captain converted at 14:13.
Then at 16:54, Penner got in on the fun with a brilliant rush.
The Grade 11 speedster drove the net while wearing Broncos’ blueliner Kylie Lindquist like a parka in mid-January and still managed to unleash a wicked backhander that beat Puls to the far side.
The Muskies piled on the pain in the third with four more goals against Kenora, which lost a large portion of its team from last season to graduation.
Mallory Payne rocketed a shot from the right face-off circle at 4:29 to put the black-and-gold ahead by a converted touchdown.
Then Sandelovich notched identical goals at 9:42 and 12:49, respectively, with rapid-fire shots while unguarded in the slot.
Tymkin made it a perfect “10” for the home side, finishing off a set-up from Sinclair and Amber Jourdain.
Kate Parsons rarely was tested in goal for Fort High but made the saves when she had to in earning the shutout.
“I think it was a fairly strong performance against a team that’s a little weaker than us,” said Beck.
“We kept moving the puck and doing the things we should be doing.”
The Muskies next travel to Thunder Bay this weekend for a pair of exhibition games.
They’ll face the Thunder Bay Midget ‘AA’ Queens tomorrow before squaring off against the Midget ‘A’ Queens on Sunday.
Their next home game is an exhibition tilt against the International Falls Broncos, which is set for Tuesday, Dec. 3 at 7:15 p.m. at the Ice For Kids Arena.
The squad will hold its annual “Teddy Bear Toss” that evening, with fans ask to bring a stuffed toy to throw on the ice after Fort High’s first goal.
The toys then will be collected and given to the local Salvation Army for distribution at Christmas.
