Lucas Punkari
It’s starting to become bit of a familiar road for the Muskie boys’ soccer team.
After finishing atop the regular-season standings for a second-straight year, the black-and-gold can win their third-straight NorWOSSA title this afternoon in Dryden when they face either the host Eagles or Kenora Broncos in the final.
“Getting the first-place finish once again was crucial for else as you get to have that extra little bit of rest before the final while the other two teams are battling it out in the semis,” noted defensive mid-fielder Lucas Koomans.
“I think this team is pretty similar to the ones that we have had in the last couple of years as we are pretty strong all around, and I think that’s something good to have heading into our games,” he added.
The Muskies clinched the top seed in the playoffs in their final game of the regular season last Wednesday in Kenora, rallying to beat the host Broncos 3-2 to finish the campaign with a 5-1 record.
“Kenora always seems to give us a bit of a go, and it seems like both teams have a good rivalry between one another,” noted Muskie assistant coach Olaf Ruppenstein.
“We were down 2-1 at halftime, but we regrouped as a team in the second half and we are pretty happy with how [we] played overall,” he added.
Cam Gobeil led the way with a pair of goals while Brandon Sinclair netted the other marker.
Earlier in the day, the Muskies cruised to a 4-1 win over Dryden in a game that saw Tyler Ruppenstein and Jacob Bolzan both net their first career NorWOSSA goals.
Colton Craig also scored while Sam Berube was credited with a goal after a Dryden player put the ball into his own net.
“I think we worked really hard in that game against Dryden,” Berube recalled.
“We kept up the pressure on them for the entire match, and we were also moving the ball around the field very quickly.
“Everyone on the squad worked well as a team,” he added.
While they’ve spent most of the past week working on their first touch and their skills in the penalty shootout if that’s required, the one thing the black-and-gold didn’t know prior to heading up to Dryden was who they would face in the final.
Although their opponent won’t be determined until after this morning’s semi-final, the Muskie players are quite familiar with what either team will bring to the table.
“With Dryden, we just have to stick to our normal game plan, which is distributing the ball and having good communication across the whole field,” Koomans noted.
“If we are against Kenora, we need to keep our composure as it sometimes gets a little bit chippy against them,” Berube warned.
“It’s been back-and-forth in all of our games so far when we have played against them, and we just need to stay calm against them and play our style of game,” he stressed.
But anything can happen—and usually does—in a one-game, winner-take-all affair. So Ruppenstein and head coach Shane Beckett have been focusing on making sure the Muskies are able to capitalize on their scoring opportunities while limiting their opponents’ chances.
“Both of the teams have players up front that if you give them one chance, they can bury it,” Ruppenstein noted.
“Even if you dominate the game, if you are unable to finish and you give them a couple of chances to score, they have the talent to do that.
“We’ve got to finish our chances, otherwise we will be in trouble no matter who we are playing against,” he remarked.
In addition to capturing the league title, the winner of today’s final will represent NorWOSSA at the all-Ontario ‘AA’ showdown June 6-8 in Stratford.
