Mitch Calvert
The Muskie boys’ soccer team made some strides to start their season at the annual St. John’s-Ravenscourt tournament in Winnipeg, but still lost to a familiar nemesis in the consolation final.
The black-and-gold were blanked 2-0 by the Kenora Broncos in the ‘B’-side championship.
“I wasn’t happy with the way things ended, but overall the level of play improved over the course of the weekend,” Muskie head coach Shane Beckett said.
“We were strong in the Kenora game, but it was two mental mistakes that cost us,” Beckett noted.
“One was an own goal and the other hit our guy’s hand so he stopped, [but] the ref let play continue and they took advantage and scored right after.”
The boys opened the tournament with a 3-0 loss to the eventual champs, the River East Marauders.
“We don’t mind losing that one,” Beckett admitted. “The first goal they scored was brilliant, second one was OK, and a mistake led to the other, but it wasn’t like they took it to us all day.
“We just got off the bus and we played like it was our first game, so that was a fair result,” Beckett added.
The Muskies then rebounded with a solid 2-0 shutout over Louis Riel on goals by Mitch Cain and Garnet Cornell.
“They were a weaker team and we went up 2-0 on them fairly quick,” Beckett said.
“We got the young guys up off the bench and played them the majority of the game, and they held their own against a city team, so that was a good sign.”
In their ‘B’-side semi-final, the Muskies overcame a first-half deficit to beat Glenlawn Collegiate 3-1.
“They were a strong team and we went down 1-0 just before half, but the guys responded with three goals in the second half,” Beckett enthused.
“We just stayed within the system, kept working hard, and good things happened.”
Dave Chambers, Jon Sinclair, and Cain all bulged the twine in the win, but the team couldn’t carry the momentum into their showdown with Kenora.
“I think from the level of play Kenora and we showed on the weekend, it’s going to be hard-fought for the rest of the season,” Beckett noted.
“We could see them [the Broncos] possibly five more times over the course of the year, and I think it was good that both teams got to see each other before [NorWOSSA play].”
Jameson Shortreed was thrust into the starting role in goal for all four games due to a foot injury to Matt DePiero—and passed his first test with flying colours going into today’s NorWOSSA opener here.
“We’d normally split time but DePiero injured his foot in practice,” Beckett explained. “Jameson played really well and that bodes well for him [today] for sure.
“I think Jameson earned his spot there and we’ll see how he does [today].”
In fact, Beckett said the play of some of his younger players highlighted a pretty solid weekend on the pitch.
“We threw Grade 10 rookie Tim Metke out there and he was a starter all weekend, and was just unstoppable,” Beckett lauded.
“Overall, it was a great team effort,” he said. “They learned this system we’ve got in play, and it looks like it’s going to bode well for us.”
The Muskies were set to have that rematch with Kenora at 5 p.m. today after having played against Dryden at 11 a.m.
