Joey Payeur
A funny thing happened on the way to the inevitable NorWOSSA girls’ hockey final.
It didn’t turn out to be so inevitable after all.
The Muskie girls’ hockey team will go for its fourth-straight league crown beginning tonight at 7:15 at the Ice For Kids Arena.
But for the first time in their title run, the last obstacle for top-ranked Fort High to overcome won’t be the Dryden Eagles.
Instead, the third-place St. Thomas Aquinas upset the second-place Eagles 2-1 in their best-of-three semi-final series to make their first NorWOSSA final in program history.
The Saints bounced back from losing 4-0 in Game 1 to win 3-0 at home in Game 2, then stunned the host Eagles 2-1 in Game 3 on Tuesday.
“The coaching staff and the players have done a great job there this year,” said Muskie head coach Todd Hamilton, whose team won all five meeting against the Saints during the regular season, outscoring them 21-9.
“They play a disciplined game in their own end, they have very good goaltending, and they are patient and wait for errant passes, then break out well,” he noted.
“And when they get chances, they capitalize on them.”
The Muskies, who swept the fourth-place Sioux Lookout Warriors in their semi-final series, will be well-rested going into tonight’s game after not having played since Sunday.
But they will need to solve red-hot Saints’ goalie Sarah From, who stopped five breakaways in Game 3 and was the main reason the Eagles were kept from making their fourth-straight final.
“The theme in the league this year has been good goaltending,” said Hamilton.
“It’s not any secret–you’ve got to shoot where the goalie isn’t and get some rebounds.”
Hamilton vowed his team will be in the right mindset to face the underdog Saints, especially considering their last two wins over the Kenora squad only were by one goal each.
“We always approach the playoffs as a new season and what you did earlier in the year gets wiped clean,” he stressed.
“T.A. beat a very good team in Dryden and they’re going to be very difficult to play against,” he warned.
Game 2 of the series goes Monday in Kenora.
A third game (if necessary) now will be held this Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. at “The Duke” (Couchiching Arena) after originally being slated for the Ice For Kids Arena at 1:15 p.m.
In related news, another change also has occurred for Game 1 of the boys’ NorWOSSA final between the Muskies and St. Thomas Aquinas.
It still will go Sunday at the Ice For Kids Arena, but the start time has been pushed back half-an-hour to 1:45 p.m.
