Muskies’ comeback falls short

A valiant Muskie comeback against one of the province’s top teams was not enough to continue the girls’ quest for a berth at the all-Ontario soccer championships.
The black-and-gold had to settle for the silver medal after being beaten 3-2 by St. Pat’s (Thunder Bay) in the final game of the NWOSSAA tournament Saturday under damp, cloudy conditions at the St. Francis Sportsfield here.
St. Pat’s advanced to the all-Ontarios in Alliston this week.
Trailing 2-0 at halftime, Shannon Koval narrowly missed a goal when she tipped a crossbar-grazing shot while falling head-first over a Saints’ defender.
Minutes later, Marina Boileau capped off another strong charge with the Muskies’ first goal of the game. But St. Pat’s responded shortly afterwards when Judith Atwood netted a heartbreaking goal to restore their two-goal lead at 3-1.
Then with 12 minutes to go, striker Chrissy Thomson cut the gap–and whipped the once-silent Muskie faithful into a frenzy–after perfectly arching a 25-metre free kick over the entire Saints’ defence and outstretched keeper.
Thomson was running towards her teammates–arms in the air–as the ball hit the net.
But the Muskies couldn’t secure the game-tying goal.
“We played a very good team strongly,” noted Muskie head coach Struchan Gilson. “I’m happy with my team’s performance.”
Earlier in the game, forwards Atwood and Katie Weatherston caused constant headaches for the Muskies and controlled the field for much of the first half.
Weatherston opened the scoring after she collected the ball from a scramble in front of the net and scored low left on Muskie keeper Amy Shute. Atwood scored through a maze of players to give St. Pat’s a 2-0 halftime lead.
Shute said it was the most action she’d seen all season. The Muskies had dominated their NorWOSSA opponents so much that the ball would never be in the defensive zone.
“It’s like my first game pretty much. I virtually never had a shot all year,” an emotional Shute said after her final game as a Muskie. “We played great, lost by one goal, but I feel it’s still a victory.”
Saints’ head coach Jacqueline Traer saw an improved Muskie squad from when they played them two years ago and watched them play at the all-Ontarios here last year.
“They’re a much different team and it seems like they’ve gotten a lot stronger,” said Traer, whose team seemingly had an answer for every Muskie push.
“We knew we had the more talented players, but our attack was passing the ball around and playing for position.”
The Muskies tuned up for the afternoon showdown by blanking Manitouwadge 5-0 on Saturday morning.
Centre half-back Sarah Noonan scored three minutes into the game, then fed a slashing Thomson a perfect pass, who moved into the box with a quick low right side marker.
Noonan then went left from 10 metres out to give her team a secure 3-0 lead. Thomson and Noreen Hartlin scored in the second half to ice the win.
St. Pat’s also had an easy time of it against the Wolverines, winning 10-0.
The Muskies finished with a 15-3-1 record overall this season, which also included their 11th NorWOSSA girls’ soccer title. The team scored 71 goals and allowed just eight.
Noonan and Sarah McTavish, a starting defender who missed a lot of time to an ankle injury, will join Shute in graduation. It’s an annual occurrence all programs have to deal with, said Gilson.
“We’ve improved this year and we’ll be really strong next year,” he remarked.