Mitch Calvert
The Muskie girls’ soccer team was under-manned and over-matched at the ‘AA’ all-Ontarios in Kenora last week—dropping all three of their games in failing to advance out of round-robin play.
The squad closed out the tournament on a positive note—holding top-ranked St. Joseph’s to three goals in a 3-0 loss Friday morning despite an extremely short bench hard hit by injuries.
“It went a lot better [than the first two games] and we took a step up,” Muskie co-coach Sarah Noonan said. “We held them to one goal for the first 60-70 minutes of the game before they got a couple late ones.
“We had another groin injury, another knee, and we had seven girls on the bench with injuries by the end, which was pretty crazy,” Noonan added.
“But regardless, the girls went out and battled.
“Taylor Meyers had an unbelievable game [in net]. She was a big factor in keeping their goals down because they were a good team, and the best team we played, for sure.”
Injuries really derailed Fort High right from the outset of the tournament as they already were without the services of Nicole Mueller and Anikka McTavish going in.
“I was really proud of the girls for not giving up,” Noonan stressed.
“We went out on a high note. It was the last game for a lot of seniors [Lauren Gurski, Emma Elliot, Paula Vangel, Kelsey Quibell, Taylor Meyers, and Paige Yatchuk], so I think the team put out a good effort for those girls, and Muskie soccer in general, and it was nice to see.”
The Muskies went into OFSAA with the goal of getting a win, but realistically can’t be too disappointed with their performance against teams that often play together year-round in club and high school programs.
“You don’t step on a field unless your goal is to win the game, but we have to be realistic and set out goals within the game,” Muskie co-coach Adam Scott conceded.
“They play together year-round, and it pays off,” Noonan said. “They pass the ball well, shoot it and cross it, but it’s nice for our girls to compete against those high-level teams.”
The black-and-gold, ranked seventh in the 16-team field and playing in Pool ‘A,’ lost their opening game Thursday morning 5-2 to Hamilton District Christian—getting goals from Paige Yatchuk and Courtney Roach in the loss.
The team then fell 4-0 to the Bishop Strachan Bobcats that afternoon to all but eliminate them from playoff contention.
That game remained scoreless for much of the first half as the black-and-gold defended well, but the Muskies’ defensive wall finally caved when Emma Hendrie converted on a corner kick from Adrienne Crampton to put Bishop Strachan ahead for good.
“We did give up a lot of corners, and with teams that can cross really well and strike from the middle, it’s dangerous,” Noonan said after the game.
“They [Bishop Strachan] scored most of their goals that way.”
Crampton keyed the Bobcats’ offence throughout the game—often forcing the ball behind the Muskie defenders and aggressively forcing turnovers in their half of the field.
Crampton added to the lead with a breakaway goal to close out the first half, then she crossed one into the crease which Carly Sterling converted on to give the Toronto-based team a 3-0 lead early in the second half.
Bishop Strachan got another goal late to ice the win.
Sara Roach had the best chance to score for Fort High, when she fought off a defender in the box and let a shot go labelled for the top corner—only to see it soar over the crossbar.
The Muskies will be losing seven seniors for next season, including Mueller, who didn’t make the trip to Kenora, but had a lot of young players take on expanded roles this season who will be better prepared to fill their shoes.
“You don’t plan on using your first-year players a whole lot, but they got a lot of playing experience this year and they all really stepped up to the challenge,” Noonan stressed.
“It’s good for those young players to have a couple games under their belts for next year,” she added.
“We were able to lead some of our league games early and get everyone on the field, and at the end of the year I guess injuries played a factor, as well [in their increased playing time].”
The short month-long season means a very long off-season, but some players don’t play in adult or youth leagues during the summer months due to other commitments—making it hard to develop skills to compete at the provincial championships.
“We start [practising] after March Break, but you can only practise so much without games,” Noonan reasoned.
“Without a proper indoor program, it’s hard, and with so many multi-sport athletes, they are coming off a volleyball season so to give them those couple weeks off between sports to recoup and find energy for the soccer season is important.”
St. Christopher (SWOSSAA) edged Denis O’Connor (LOSSA) 2-1 in the gold-medal game on Saturday while St. Joseph’s took the bronze with a 2-0 victory over Bishop Strachan.
