Muskies take Game 1 of 24-25 Border Battle, 7-0 against the Broncos

Last night in Bronco Arena, it was part 1 of the Girls Hockey Border Battle, and the Broncos and Muskies would deliver a game that was nothing short of exciting. The Muskies would take game 1 in dominant fashion as they beat the Broncos 7-0 with Senior Ophelia Lucas-Engberg starting the scoring off with an unassisted, short-handed goal in the first. Followed by Freshman Logan Neurinski extending to a 2-0 lead before the end of a most uneventful 1st Period.

Then, it would be the 2nd Period where the action begins as Marlee Bliss would score quickly into the 2nd extending to 3-0. 4:29 into the 2nd, Blaire Cross and Sidney Lindahl-Slatinski would both be ejected from the game for fighting, and Mya LePage would score goal number 4 for Fort Frances. Ella Evans would score late in the second to go into the third leading 5-0.

Evans would catch fire 4 minutes into the 3rd Period as she found the back of the net for the second time assisted by Marissa Kenny. Around 20 seconds later it would be Hannah Pope with the exclamation point as she would score and reach a 7-0 finish. The Muskies move to 7-1 on the season and the Broncos sadly drop to 0-3 as Tirzah Carradice, the Bronco player of the game, joined Joey Payeur to talk about her thoughts on the game.

The team had been swept by illness and injury prior to the game, leaving their roster short-staffed which caught up to the players as the game went on.

Entering the second period, the game was close at 2-0 but did that early goal by Marlee Bliss take the wind out of their sails?

Tirzah was asked for her reaction to the fight in the 2nd Period.

She was then asked about the defense on the ice and the pressure Mara Pelland must feel in goal who had 46 saves in the game.

She was asked about their next game at home against Hibbing.

The Broncos will be at home once more on Tuesday to host Hibbing/Chisholm with a puck drop at 7pm. Joey then spoke to Ella Evans, the Muskies player of the game, about how she felt the team did in the first Border Battle of the season.

Joey asked her how she found herself in a position to get her 2 goals.

She then shared her thoughts on her team’s performance overall.

Ella Evans was then asked about Marlee Bliss’s goal in the 2nd and if that was their springboard in momentum.

Of course, she also shared her reaction to the fight between her teammate and the Bronco.

Danielle Schram, the goalie for the Muskies in Thursday night’s Border Battle, had a 20-save shutout in her first season as a starter. Ella Evans talks about her and their other goalie Shayna Shute.

Because Mara Pelland had so many saves, what made her so hard to shoot against?

Finally, she was asked if the Muskies are worried about their endurance as they’ll play two more games tonight and tomorrow.

The Muskies have a busy weekend as they’ll be on the road tonight to take on Prairie Centre at 7pm, and then they head down to Moose Lake to play the Rebels in another 7pm puck drop. The Muskies Girls home opener will be Tuesday, November 26th against Sioux North.