Mitch Calvert
Winnipeg
teams offer
great game
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After opening NorWOSSA play with two wins on home turf last Wednesday, the Muskie girls’ soccer team hit the road for the annual St. John’s-Ravenscourt tournament in Winnipeg over the weekend.
The black-and-gold opened play against Winnipeg powerhouse Oak Park and dropped a 2-0 decision.
Veteran keeper Taylor Meyers kept the score close with more than 30 saves.
The girls then rebounded with another win over their NorWOSSA rival Kenora Broncos, this time by a 2-1 score.
Kelsey Quibell and Sara Roach each netted a goal apiece in the win while Grade 10 keeper Chelsea Hill gave Meyers a breather and performed well between the pipes.
On Saturday, the Muskies lost 4-1 to the host squad. Roach had the lone goal in that one.
Muskie coach Saran Noonan said tournament organizer Darren Johnson made a switch in the schedule for their final game, allowing Fort High to square off against a non-NorWOSSA opponent (River East) rather than play their scheduled match-up with the Dryden Eagles.
“River East played an impressively organized game with great possession and offensive attack,” Noonan wrote in an e-mail to the Times.
“Due to injuries and illness, the final game saw six starting players on the sidelines, including top scorers Quibell, Roach, and Meyers,” she noted.
The Muskies lost the game 7-0, but Noonan said the tournament gave her squad a chance to face some premiere competition and that meant more than results on the scoreboard.
“Win or lose, it’s always great game experience to play Winnipeg high school teams,” Noonan remarked.
“Coach [Adam] Scott and I saw excellent leadership from the senior players this weekend, skill development and increased confidence in the junior-level players, and a whole team improvement within our 4-4-2 system.
“We are right where we want to be so far this season,” Noonan added. “NorWOSSA games are what really count [while] weekend tournaments are bonus game experience for our team.
“Although we are on track right now, there are still some things we need to work and improve on, but each game teaches us a new lesson.”
As mentioned, the Muskie girls opened NorWOSSA play here last Wednesday with wins over Dryden (4-0) and Kenora (1-0).
Nicole Mueller scored twice while Quibell and Anikka McTavish added singles in the morning win over the Eagles.
Quibell then netted the lone goal against Kenora on a free kick in the second half.
It was a similar play to her goal against Dryden—blasting a hard kick high over the Broncos’ defensive “wall” from just outside the penalty box.
“We have set plays for free kicks, but basically we just want all of the front of the net covered,” Noonan noted. “Kelsey on the ball can really knock it in there, whether it’s a corner or a free kick, and she showed that.”
Meanwhile, Meyers was awarded the “Joga Bonito” (a Portuguese phrase meaning “play beautifully” that has been featured in Nike commercials) player-of-the-game award.
The award actually is a broken soccer ball made into a helmet of sorts, and she proudly sported the honourary headgear after the game.
“At practice one day, one of the soccer balls broke, and the idea came out to make a mullet hat out of the soccer ball, and the girls figured it should be a player-of-the-game award,” Noonan laughed.
“So whoever plays beautifully during the game gets the hat afterwards.”
Mueller earned the hat in the first game after her two-goal performance against Dryden.
The Broncos look to be the team that stands in the way of a Muskie berth at the all-Ontarios, and so far the black-and-gold have gotten the better of them with two-straight wins.
“They have a solid forward core and lots of defence who can boot the ball,” Meyers said of the Broncos. “They play four back, so it’s hard to send a ball in there, but I think we can definitely break them down.”
Going to OFSAA always is the goal each season, but Meyers hopes they can make a little noise there this year if they do make the trip.
“It’d be nice to go to OFSAA my final year, and just making it there is awesome, we tied a game last year, but it’d be nice to actually win one if we make it there this year,” she said.
“[Teams in southern Ontario] play together year-round, so it’s really hard to beat them, but it was a good learning experience to go down there and play talented teams like that,” Meyers added.
The Muskies were set to put their 2-0 NorWOSSA record to the test today in Dryden in Week 2 of league play.
