It was a stellar end to the NorWOSSA regular season for both the Muskie boys’ and girls’ hockey teams in Dryden on Tuesday.
Both teams came away with wins over the host Eagles to finish atop their respective divisions and will be the top seed in next week’s semifinals.
The girls’ squad battled the Eagles in a doubleheader, with Fort High coming out on top in both.
Muskie captain Jill Calder scored the overtime winner with six seconds left to lift the black-and-gold to a 2-1 win in the first game on Tuesday afternoon.
Tatum Glowasky provided the other goal for the Muskies in the third period while Julia Jones had opened the scoring for Dryden with 2:38 into the second.
The Muskies then ended the regular season with a hard fought 3-2 shootout win over the Eagles that evening to clinch top spot with a 9-1 record.
Glowasky netted the lone goal in the shootout for Fort High while Piper Cross and Abbie Kenny both tallied in regulation.
Miya West and Lauryn Loyer replied in regulation for the Eagles, who finished in third place with a 4-3-2-1 record.
The Muskies now will take on the fourth-ranked Sioux Lookout Warriors (3-6-1) in the best-of-three NorWOSSA semifinals.
Game 1 is set for Tuesday (Feb. 25) at 7:15 p.m. at the Ice For Kids Arena.
Game 2 will go next Thursday (Feb. 27) in Sioux Lookout while Game 3, if necessary, would be played back here next Sunday (March 1) at 2:45 p.m. at IFK.
As for the Muskie boys, they ended the regular season with a 6-2 win over the host Eagles to finish in top spot with an 11-1 record.
Captain Reed Bodnar netted a hat trick and added two assists while Mikel Ward found the back of the net once and dished out three assists to pace the Muskies’ offence.
Nolan Mann and Bodnar both tallied early in the first as the Muskies jumped out to a 2-0 lead.
Aidan Bullock then finally put the third-place Eagles (8-4) on the board just past the 10-minute mark.
But Fort High responded with goals from Bodnar and Ward to carry a 4-1 lead after 20 minutes.
After Bodnar capped his hat trick to put his side up by four early in the middle stanza, Brent Pollard responded for Dryden at 14:09 to cut it to 5-2 after 40 minutes.
Peyton Avis then salted the game away for the Muskies 7:50 into the third as he buried a feed from Bodnar and Darnell Kempf to round out the scoring.
Jaden Cooper garnered the win in goal over Aidan Butts of the Eagles.
The Muskies now will take on the fourth-ranked Red Lake Rams (4-7-0-1) in the best-of-three NorWOSSA semifinals.
Game 1 is set for Tuesday (Feb. 25) in Red Lake.
Game 2 will go next Saturday (Feb. 29) at 3:45 p.m. at the Ice For Kids Arena while Game 3, if necessary, would also be played here on Monday, March 2 at 6:45 p.m.
