Mitch Calvert
Both the Muskie boys’ and girls’ soccer teams opened NorWOSSA play here yesterday—but with decidedly different results.
The defending NorWOSSA champion girls’ squad strung together back-to-back shutouts, blanking Dryden 4-0 in their morning game before escaping with a 1-0 victory over Kenora in their afternoon tilt.
Veteran keeper Taylor Meyers held the fort in the early going versus the Eagles, allowing the black-and-gold to get settled in and hem the Eagles in their own half of the field for most of the game.
Nicole Mueller scored twice while Kelsey Quibell and Anikka McTavish netted singles.
“Good way to start the season,” first-year coach Muskie Sarah Noonan enthused. “We have a really balanced team from Taylor in net all the way through.
“There isn’t any position or part of the field that we are weak in, so it’s easy to succeed with good players in each spot,” she added.
Despite a perfect start to the season, Meyers knows the team can get better—and will have to if they hope to keep their unblemished record intact.
“I think we’ve been playing pretty solid and coming together as a team, but there are definitely some things we need to improve on,” she stressed.
“Our first touch, sending the ball to the net, and just overall play as a team.”
Kenora (1-1) beat Dryden (0-2) in the other girls’ game of the day by a 4-1 score.
The Muskie boys, meanwhile, suffered a pair of hard-fought losses yesterday.
They lost their morning game to the Dryden Eagles—relinquishing a 2-1 lead midway through the game before falling 3-2.
Garnet Cornell took advantage of a misread by the Dryden keeper to score the game’s first goal, then Justin Bujold connected on a penalty kick to put the Muskies up 2-1.
But the effort went for naught.
To make matters worse, Fort High also lost keeper Jamison Shortreed, who had to leave the game with a knee injury.
Veteran goalie Matt DePiero already was on the shelf with a foot injury, so Cody Vangel stepped in and performed admirably under the circumstances in a 1-0 loss to Kenora.
Head coach Shane Beckett said Vangel played a little bit of goal in youth league—and likely will be counted on between the pipes for the next week or two.
Mitch Cain, who led all Muskie scorers with two goals at a weekend tournament in Winnipeg, was not available yesterday due to a hockey commitment in Toronto.
Kenora beat Dryden 3-0 in the other game to lead the boys’ standings at 2-0 after Week 1.
NorWOSSA action resumes next Wednesday (May 13) in Dryden.
