Muskie girls cage Bears

It would have been understandable for the Muskie girls’ hockey team to suffer an emotional letdown after battling their way to gold at the Northern Shield Classic in Dryden over the weekend.
But while they weren’t in prime form, the black-and-gold still were strong enough to venture into a Bears’ den and come back out with a victory.

Jillian Langtry scored twice and Dana Cridland made 20 saves to lift Fort High to a 4-2 exhibition win over the Lake of the Woods Bears in Baudette last night.
“We probably should have beat them by more,” said Muskie coach Mel Langtry.
“We were coming off a pretty big weekend,” he noted. “We didn’t play our best, but it was good enough to win.”
It took until 1:30 left in the first period for the two teams to break the ice, with Langtry doing the honours on a set-up from Danielle Jean and Jessie Baker.
Then two minutes into the second, Langtry came back for more as she beat Bears’ goalie Bryne Hanson with a quick shot, with Baker notching her second assist of the night.
Jamie Mellbuerg injected some life into the home side, cutting the lead in half with five minutes left in the second. But the third period saw the Muskies find another gear.
Courtney Bethune converted a pass from Ericka Tymkin nine minutes in to give Fort Frances a 3-1 lead.
The black-and-gold then put the game out of reach three minutes later as Shae-lynn Smith tallied unassisted to increase the advantage to three.
Carly Thompson pulled Lake of the Woods closer with her goal with 59 seconds to go. But even with their goalie pulled for the final minute, the Bears could not get any closer in front of a boisterous crowd of supporters who came out for the team’s home-opener.
Fort High held a 37-22 lead on the shot clock, with Hanson making 33 saves in defeat.
The Muskies now will prepare for what should be a spirited home-and-home series against their cross-border rivals, the International Falls Broncos, with the first game going this Friday (Dec. 4) over at Bronco Arena.
Then, after a sojourn to Dryden for a NorWOSSA clash with the Eagles, the Muskies will host the Broncos next Tuesday (Dec. 8) at the Ice For Kids Arena at 7:15 p.m.
The squad will hold their annual “Teddy Bear Toss” at that game, with fans being asked to bring a stuffed animal with them to the game to throw onto the ice after Fort High scores its first goal.
The toys then will be donated as Christmas gifts to underprivileged children in the area.
Fans also are asked to bring along boxes of cereal to the game to donate to the Salvation Army’s Christmas Hamper food drive.