Muskie girls miss playoffs

COLLINGWOOD—A 3-0 loss to St. Thomas Aquinas (Oakville) this morning eliminated any hopes the Muskie girls’ soccer team had of advancing to the playoff round at the all-Ontario ‘AA’ championship in Collingwood.
The squad wrapped up round-robin play in Pool ‘D’ this afternoon against first-place Courtice Holy Trinity, but an upset win still wouldn’t give the black-and-gold enough points to advance to the quarter-finals this evening.
Despite the loss, which came on the heels of a tight 2-1 setback to St. Jean de Brebeuf yesterday afternoon, the Muskies were happy with their 0-2-1 showing so far.
“I thought we were going to get killed,” said one Muskie as the other girls nodded in agreement.
“But we had them on their toes,” another enthused.
With injured Kelsey Quibell sitting out this morning’s game, which was delayed 15 minutes by rain, Kayla Benjamin and Muskie captain Erin Kaemingh covered the midfield with impressive force and skill.
Indeed, Kaemingh showed true captaining today—setting an example for her team with fearless play against St. Thomas Aquinas.
The first half was uneventful in terms of goals, but defensive play by Fort High was at a peak. Keeper Taylor Meyers showed incredible foresight—always putting herself in front of scoring attempts.
A close call off the top goal post bounced out and was cleared by a speedy Lauren Pierce.
It was downhill in the second half, though, despite a continued strong effort by Fort Frances.
Midway through the half, Meyers ran to mid-field to help her team in hopes of a goal. But the tide turned quickly as St. Thomas Aquinas gained control of the ball and rushed downfield.
Meyers was beaten to the net and the first goal on the soggy field was scored.
St. Thomas Aquinas scored their second goal moments later, followed by a third shortly afterwards (all three goals came in about a 10-minute span).
With time against them and nothing to show on the scoreboard, the Muskies fought for a goal to the end, with Paula Vangel making St. Thomas Aquinas fight for every inch and Lauren Gurski supporting her goalie.
While the Muskies were noticeably more aggressive against St. Jean de Brebeuf yesterday afternoon than they were during a 1-1 draw against host Jean Vanier that morning, they were unable to recover from what ultimately turned out to be the winning goal scored by penalty kick.
Meyers’ superb goaltending was nearly unbeatable in this close game.
Nicole Mueller continued to shine, as well, again scoring the first goal of the game while persevering throughout the match with intensity.
The forward’s goal was scored on an assist from Annika McTavish, who had a scoring chance late in the game and nearly tied it up.
The final minutes of the second half were nail-biters as both teams gave their all to score a goal.
The Muskies definitely gave St. Jean de Brebeuf a run for their money.